


Living With Myself

by alexdamien



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-11 14:59:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 62
Words: 49,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5630755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexdamien/pseuds/alexdamien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Link has to get rid of Dark Link before anybody finds out that he actually exists, but why is Dark Link so laid back about the whole thing? This fanfic updates daily Monday through Friday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After Link came back from his travels, it had been hard to convince Zelda that he didn’t want to live in the castle. He had to talk about nostalgia, and about the house of his childhood. And he had high hopes that he had convinced her, until Zelda brought up the fact that she didn't think he would fit in his tiny childhood house.

But he had managed to convince her. Somehow.

Now all he had to do was figure out how to get rid of Dark Link without anybody noticing he was there in the first place.

"Another round! On him!" shouted Dark to the drunken patrons of the bar, who were happy to cheer him for more free wine.

Link sighed. Alcohol had been the only way Dark had agreed to cover himself with a cloack so nobody would recognize him, but Link was running out of money fast, and he still had to find somewhere for the both of them to live until he could get rid of his shadow

Dark Link had come out of a mirror, so maybe he could use another mirror to seal him. He added that idea to his mental list of options. All the thinking and worrying was giving him a headache, and he was starting to accept the idea that he would need to build a house as far as possible from any villages or cities where they could hide from the world. But then, Dark would get bored soon, and he didn't want the episode with Epona to repeat. It had taken him ages to get the horrified horse back to shore.

"Link!" said Dark, latching on to Link's shoulder. He had gone through so many bottles of wine, Link had stopped counting "I know ye'r mad at me, but come on! Have fun! Ya need to get more social life, what's the point o' savin' the world if ya ain't gonna 'njoy it?"

Link grunted and looked at his own full cup of tea. They were leaving as soon as he finished.

He blinked, hadn't he said that before? Like, a couple tea cups ago?

He gave Dark an exasperated look.

"What? Another round 's another round for everyone!"

Link drank all of it and stood up. It was going to be a long, long night followed by long, long days.


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes Link felt that more than a hero, he was just the luckiest guy ever. He stumbled into adventures, found items that proved themselves vital to his quests, and important people seemed to like him at first sight. In fact, his own dark side liked him enough to not engage in battle every time they saw each other. He was even okay with Link wanting to get rid of him. Link wasn't sure if Dark acted like that because he was sure Link would never manage to destroy him, or if he had ulterior motives for hanging around him.

In his head, Link replayed the night when Dark had come out of the mirror. Link had already known the shadow was inside his own mind, waiting for a way to escape. He could feel the darkness, lingering at the edges of his awareness. How had he escaped from the Dark Realm? Had it been Link the one who released him? He feared that might have been the case. Maybe that was why Dark was so confident in staying close to him.

Link sat down on the floor of the little abandoned house he had found for the both of them, next to the pile of books that he had brought from his old Kokiri Forest house, in hopes that there would be something there that talked about how to get rid of your embodied shadow.

It was a long shot, but considering the usual odds he faced during his quests, he wasn't too worried about it.

Most of Link's quests (and all of his problems to be honest), started with dreams; and Dark Link had been the weirdest dream.

In his dream, Link wandered too deep into the dream world, walking through misty visions that faded as soon as he aproached them. And in the end, at the very edge of life and dreams, he saw himself clothed in black with the red sparks of the stars shining in his eyes. 

He reached out to him, not knowing which one of the two was really himself, when the vacant eyes fixed on him, and the Link in the Dark Realm spoke, with a voice made of pure energy that fell right to Link's heart. And like a drop of poison that contaminated a glass of water, Link felt the other's presence expanding inside of him, embracing his very soul.

He woke up, and stumbled out towards the bathroom, feeling himself disoriented. The room seemed to sway with every step he took, as if he was seeing it through two pairs of eyes. As he reached the mirror he saw his eyes shone red, and his reflection gave him a sharp grin in return. The thing embracing his soul let go, while the Link from the mirror reached out to him, and Link fainted.

When he woke up, Dark Link sat on the edge of the bed next to him, singing a song about the sky.

As he finished replaying the scene in his mind, Link put down the last book he had read. There was nothing, and the only person who could help him was the one that should never find out. If Zelda knew of Dark Link's existence she would no doubt call the sages and do something drastic, like messing up with time again.

And Link wanted anything but that.

Dark's deep voice reached Link from the kitchen among the noise of clattering pans and burning food. How his shadow managed to never get a hangover was beyond him and he didn't care; but what drove him mad was the song he sang all the time.

" _As you sway, your feet float in the sky...  
As you sway, you are drawn to the sky..."*_

 **_A/N:_ ** _*These are the lyrics of Belaire from Malice Mizer._


	3. Chapter 3

Link walked into the kitchen and Dark Link gave him his sharpest smirk. Even though Link didn't move, Dark saw him flinch in the depths of his eyes. They couldn't hide anything from one another.

"Hungry?" he asked, and dropped a bowl of something in front of Link, this time the hero visibly recoiled. "There wasn't much in the house, so I went out and killed something. Dun' know what it was, but it smells tasty"

Link sighed and got up.

"I'm not hungry" he said, in the soft, hoarse voice of someone who isn’t used to speakin aloud. Not even with himself. "I'll go fish something for dinner."

"Pfft, fishing's boring. Let's go hunting. The people at the village nearby looked meaty," said Dark

Link blinked, squinted, and looked down at the bowl in front of him.

"No, that was some kind of animal," said Dark with a shrug. "I didn't want to walk all the way to the village to get breakfast, and the horse won't let me get on it. I need a horse of my own. A black one…A  _male_  one. Or move to the city."

"We're not going to move anywhere if you keep spending all the money on booze," complained Link

Dark Link  pouted. "'s better than spending it on arrows"

Link could barely believe him. "We need arrows," he said, as if talking to a child.

"And we need booze, I refuse to live on tea!"

Someone knocked on the door.

Both warriors fell silent

"Hide" whispered Link, turning towards the door.

"Where?" asked Dark, looking around and finding nowhere to hide. The kitchen was tiny enough, and in plain view from the entrance.

"Can't you hide in the shadows or something?" said Link, growing more desperate by the second. He could hear upbeat voices from the other side of the door. Voices he knew too well.

"Do I really have to?" whined Dark.

They heard giggles from the other side of the door and more knocking, then the soft voice of princess Zelda said "Link? Are you there? I brought a present to celebrate you getting a new house!"

"I'm going!" said Link, and Dark hit him on the head

"You idiot! Why did you answer?! She would have left!" whispered Dark.

Link realized what he had done, and facepalmed. "Hide  _somewhere_!"

Dark gritted his teeth and jumped into Link's shadow. He didn't mind the darkness. He  _was_  darkness. But the thing that made him edgy was the comfortable feeling of being in Link's shadow. He felt that if he stayed there too long, in the soft ebb and flow of their thoughts and the welcoming darkness, he would lose himself to it.

Link opened the door and found Zelda, Saria and Malon, who gave him three brightly decorated packages. He smiled softly and let them come inside.

"How cute!" said Saria, then sniffed "is something on the stove?"

"Yes" whispered Dark, and Link ran to the kitchen.

Dark jumped to the shadow of the table at the center of the living room. The uncomfortable new shadow felt like he was being pressed between stone walls, but the pain and discomfort made him more aware of himself, unlike the comfortable space of Link's shadow, which felt like home; because it was.

Link came back, and indicated for them to sit down.

"I'll bring tea" he said in a voice like a whisper.

"He's getting better" said Zelda, with pride in her voice, and Dark huffed

 _'As if you had anything to do with it, princess,'_ he thought.

He was the darkness, asnd as such he knew the hidden depths of the other side of himself. And he knew that he had to get away from all of them to get better. To realize that he wasn't a puppet of destiny.

"Of course," said Saria, looking around at the odd trinkets thrown about that Link had collected in his travels "all he needed was some rest. He'll be fine soon"

Dark wanted to bite her arm off. Link would never be  _fine_. Ever.

And neither would Dark, but between the two of them, they could get better. He rolled his eyes, wanting to jump to the shadows of the stairs and hide in the room But Zelda was too close to him, and would sense him easily. Even the small jump he made to the table had been almost too much. Lucky for him, Zelda had been distracted.

But she had felt something. Dark knew it by seeing the way she inspected with hard eyes every corner of the house. Too bad for the little princess, she thought Link was only at the mercy of darkness. She missed on the things that truly left scars on him.

Link came back with a small wooden tray.

"How has it been going for you Link? Isn't this a bit far from everything?" asked Zelda, waving her hands to signal the tiny old house.

Link smiled and shook his head. From his position, Dark could see the small trembling of his hands. Good acting, but he was still worried that Dark would jump out at any moment and expose both of them. Which he  _could_  do, of course. But he was evil, not  _dumb_.

"Are you coming to the city for the carnival of the solstice?" asked Malon, and Link lowered his eyes.

"I'm not sure," he said in a low voice. "I have some things to do, and…"

"You have to go out some times Link!" said Zelda. "I'd wish you reconsidered the idea of living at the castle. My father has said he likes you a lot."

Link stared at his cup and tapped it with a finger.

Dark knew that even if he didn't exist, Link would have refused. The people, the guards, all those faces he knew but who didn't remember what had happened. Only the sages and some members of the council were allowed to remember. And even that, for some, was too much. To remember your own death, to be haunted by your own desperation every night.

It had driven some of them mad.

"I'll try to get to the carnival. I just want to go through all this junk. I won't need it anymore and I'm not sure what to do with it. Even on this bigger house, it still takes a lot of space," said Link, unable to look her in the eyes.

Zelda nodded, and dropped the subject. That promise was more than enough.


	4. Chapter 4

The more Link investigated, the less hope he had of finding an answer without having to go out and look for one. His books made very few mentions about shadow people. Mainly, they spoke of them as empty vessels for the will of those who summoned them. The same way as he remembered Dark being during that first time they met at the temple of water.

Link set down the book he had been reading, and stretched. In front of him, lying on the floor in front of the heart was Dark, half dozing off and half watching the fire. Link knew it because if he relaxed and let their thoughts flow along with each other, he could see the blurry image of the fire as seen from Dark's eyes. It faded as sleep lulled him.

"Are you sure you don't want a bed for yourself?" asked Link, quietly. 

"Yeah," said Dark, stretching like a cat and rolling on the floor to look up at him. "I'm fine like this. I don't think I'll ever get used to those bed things."

Link scoffed a laugh. "I'll get you a mattress so you can at least try that. If you don't like it, we'll just get rid of it," he said.

Dark shrugged, letting him know that he was fine with whatever he wanted to do.

"Just ask the question already. It's driving you insane," said Dark, rolling to turn his back on Link and stare at the fire again.

"Sorry. I just...I want to know...," whispered Link.

"That's not a question, blondie," said Dark, still unwilling to look back at him.

Link huffed. Dark was being difficult on purpose, hoping that Link would be deterred by his own shyness. 

"Were you an empty vessel, like it says on those books?" finally asked Link, silently grateful that he hadn't had to look at Dark's red eyes while asking the question.

Dark hummed, drumming his fingers against the old wooden floor. "I think I was, yeah. When Ganondorf summoned me, that's what he wanted. An empty copy that would have all of you abilities and none of your whole being-an-actual-person thing."

"So he made you?" asked Link, disappointed for a reason he didn't fully understand.

"He did. I mean, he tore away a piece of your shadow and used your reflection at the temple of water to complete me, so yeah. He made me by using pieces of you I guess."

Link nodded absentmindedly, his eyes gazing at the dark night sky outside.  _'At least something good came out of that,'_  he thought.

"I heard that," called Dark from the floor, and Link knew he was smirking in self satisfaction.

"I'm going to sleep," announced Link, standing up from the makeshift couch he had been reading at. "I left some covers and pillows next to the door in case you want some."

"Oh, aren't you thoughtful?" said Dark, his voice full of sarcasm.

Link grunted in exasperation and went upstairs to sleep.

Dark stayed on the floor in front of the fire. He liked to see the flames and to feel the heat against his skin. He stayed there until he felt Link's consciousness drifting into sleep, and only then did he relax. He kept his memories of the time under Ganondorf's control as separate as possible from Link's side of their mind bond. Most of the time, he didn't have to make too much of an effort, considering how much he liked to block that time away from his mind. The memories were just... _there._  Stored into him. Because back then, that was what he had done. He saw, and memorized, and  _learned_. He had to. Ganondorf had been decided to make something that would kill the hero, and he wasn't going to have his creation be defeated simply because it couldn't remember a move that the hero had made five seconds ago.

So he remembered standing in front of Ganondorf's mirror, watching the hero's every move. Learning. Watching him fighting, running, sleeping...Meeting Sheik. And he had memorized it all. Every change in Link's expressions. When he felt tired, or sad, or when he could no longer go on, his eyes full of despair as he looked at the barren earth that was Hyrule.

And yet...

If Dark closed his eyes, he could still see himself as he was back then, in the mirror room at Ganondorf’s castle. Cold and dark. The formless shadows around him whispering of things he did not care for, envious of his new physical body.

Ganondorf came in to look at him from time to time, to make sure the Hero was losing. Dark remembered the last time he had spoken to him.

_"Where is he now? What was that noise from Death Mountain?" he asked._

_"He has set the Fire Sage free," answered Dark, without taking his eyes off from the mirror, where the hero was fast asleep on a hidden corner of the mountain._

_"Hmph...Look at me," ordered Ganondorf, and Dark Link almost hesitated to take his eyes off the hero. Almost._

_He looked up at his master, who examined him up and down._

_"You don't sound enough like him. You don't even look enough like him," he had said, pulling at Dark's long black hair that fell down to his back. He grabbed Dark's face to look at him closer, and found him lacking. "I'll have you dress up as him and wait for him at the Water Temple. Come with me."_

_Dark blinked, which he didn't do often, but was starting to enjoy._

_"I should have taken more of his shadow. I should have taken all of it," he said, leading him to a different room. "The similarity is barely superficial...,"_

_He followed Ganondorf through the castle, to a room where servants had left a copy of the hero's clothes made in black fabric. They cut his hair short at the back so it would fit in the black cap. Ganondorf saw the locks fall to the floor, and passed his hand through the hair that was left. Against Dark's icy skin, his hand felt burning hot._

_"If I had taken all his shadow, even your skin would be hot," said Ganondorf. His breath, so close to Dark's face, felt strange and uncomfortable._

_He had almost felt something like relief when Ganondorf had torn off his clothes to look at him completely. Until he felt his hands on his skin._

_Ganondorf had taken him on a bed, with soft sheets that smelled of fresh cotton, and then beaten him when he wouldn't cry._

_But he didn't know how to cry._


	5. Chapter 5

Link woke up looking like shit, and Dark wasted no time in telling him so, even as he gave him a cup of tea.

"I  _know_  I look bad," said Link, rubbing at his tired eyes. "I couldn't sleep all night. I kept having nightmares and waking up."

"Hmph, weird. I slept fine," said Dark, because lying was easier for him than breathing.

"I can't even remember what I dreamed of, but it just wouldn't let me rest," said Link, sitting down at the table.

"Then take a nap. It's not like you have anything to do today," said Dark, setting two plates at the table. Meat for both. Cooked for Link, and raw for him. 

"Don't," said Link, pointing at Dark's plate with his fork.

"It's tastier this way," said Dark with a grin.

"I'm serious. Cook that thing."

Dark stuck out his tongue at him, but got up to cook his breakfast anyway. "Killjoy," he said, putting the pan to the fire.

"And I can't take a nap. I have to go through all the things I brought from the forest last time. I've been putting it off," said Link, and got up with the cup of tea in his hand. He walked up to a pile of stuff near the entrance. There were old empty bottles, his collection of masks, tunics that he couldn't wear anymore, and a variety of other things he couldn't even remember. He pushed a box with his foot and a bunch of masks spilled from a bag. 

"Ugh, that's so boring," called Dark from the kitchen. He had burnt his food again. He hated cooking. As much as he kept following recipes, things never seemed to taste the way they should. "Let's go to the town and have fun. I want to go shopping," he said.

Something crashed at the living room, and Dark cackled. "What did you break now?" he asked, taking the pan off the fire and turning to look at the living room.

Link stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the floor, with the tea cup broken at his feet.

And silent.

Completely silent.

The silence all around him felt unnatural, and a shiver went through Dark when he realized the silence came from within him. He couldn't hear any of his thoughts.

"Hey man, come on," said Dark with a tense smile, putting a hand to his shoulder.

A shot of electricity threw him against the wall. The energy still crackling over his skin as he looked up at Link's still form, and noticed his eyes. They were completely white. Even the tips of his hair were white. It seemed as if the color was draining out of him.

Dark hissed, recognizing the thing Link had been looking at. The Fierce Deity mask stared up at Link from among a pile of other masks.

Dark facepalmed. Leave it to Link to leave dangerously powerful supernatural artifacts lying around with the trash. 

After a moment, Dark Link closed his eyes and concentrated on the spiritual and mental bond he had with Link. He could feel him, far away, as if he was calling him through thick fog. He heard a soft echo among the darkness of his own thoughts.

 _"Link! Link! Can you hear me?!"_  shouted Dark across their shared mindspace.

He felt two hands descend on his shoulders, and then a whisper  _"He can hear you,"_  it said, with an old, deep voice.

Dark gasped and opened his eyes. He jumped up from the floor, shivering from the strange cold he felt at his back. He looked behind him, fully expecting to find something ancient about to pounce on him, but there was nothing. He took deep breaths, still convinced that there was something, somewhere, waiting...

And then he heard breathing, and when he turned around, Link was there again. In body, and in thoughts, and in that thing deep inside him that Dark thought might be a soul. He was there. All of him.

Dark ran up to him and held him by the shoulders, shaking him. "What the fuck happened?!"

Link paled, holding on to him. "I-I... I don't know...," he whispered, trembling.


	6. Chapter 6

"That thing has got to go," said Dark, sitting at the couch with Link sitting next to him, covered in blankets and sipping a cup of tea.

Neither of them had dared to turn their backs on the mask. They had been stuck at the couch for hours.

"Uhuh," agreed Link, who tended to stop talking and instead communicating through grunts when worried.

"I mean, leaving it there was a super bad idea. One of the worst you've had after putting the damn thing on," said Dark.

Link pursed his lips. "Hmph."

"I know, I know, the moon was about to crush the earth yeah. But damn, that thing is  _something else_. And whatever was in it, is now inside you. Or, inside us, considering we're sharing mental space and everything. And what the hell was inside that thing in the first place?"

"A god," whispered Link.

Dark gave a tired sigh. "I was hoping the 'Deity' thing was an...exaggeration," he said.

Link shook his head. Because of course it was an actual god.  _Of course._

Dark bit his lower lip. "You know, I don't like the idea, but maybe you should tell the sages about this. I mean, if that thing is really a god we shouldn't underestimate it," he said.

Link took a deep breath, and shook his head. He hadn't told Zelda or the sages about his adventures in Termina, and he would  _not_  tell them about it now. Dark could feel his absolute refusal through their mental bond.

He poked Link's temple. "Don't be so strong headed. This is important. Whatever is in that thing clearly can take over you. We have to be careful," he said, and let his head fall against Link's shoulder.

Link let himself relax, and stared at his cup of tea for a long moment before speaking. "That's why I can't tell them," he said. "What will they do if they know that it can take over me? What will they do if they think it's too dangerous to have me walk free while I have that think inside me? I...I don't want them to decide I'm...dangerous..."

"If it makes you feel better," Dark said, holding Link's hand and entwining their fingers. "They would probably think I'm much more dangerous. What with being made by Ganondorf and everything."

A smile tugged at the edges of Link's mouth. "It doesn't," he said, and scoffed a laugh. "It really doesn't make me feel better."

Dark shoved him. "Jerk."

"But really, I can't... I don't want to tell them. And besides, I can deal with it. I just need to find something that could separate us. Or at least something to make sure it doesn't take over my body."

"Sure yeah, I bet there are tons of things that contain evil powerful deities and separate spirits and shit," said Dark, annoyed at him. He couldn't help but remember the feeling of something powerful hiding between their shared mind bond, and the way it seemed to speak with a voice made from sheer power.

"Yes," said Link.

"What?"

Link sat up straight. "There is a place where spirits merge and separate. The Spirit Temple."


	7. Chapter 7

Zelda looked out to the market, where rows and rows of lamps illuminated the streets with their flickering flames of different colors. It was lovely but she wished she didn't have to go and spend time among the people. She wanted to just admire the festival from afar. In silence.

She walked away from the great window and kept walking down the hallway. There was still so much to be done, and she had to be at the central hall for the midnight ball. Yet another thing she wished she could admire from afar. Or at least she wished she didn't have to endure it on her own.

She shook her head.  _Endure?_  Where had that thought come from? These were the happy days of peace time. These weren't the days she'd had to endure. Oh, but she felt just as alone as she had been during those seven years in hiding. Why hadn't Link come to accompany her? Maybe he felt the same need for silence that she did. She couldn't blame him for it.

She turned a corner into another empty hallway with more windows that opened to the forest behind the castle, with mirrors hanging on the pilars between them. Ganondorf's forces had come through that forest. Luckily. Otherwise Impa wouldn't have had enough time to get her out of the castle. She entwined her fingers to stop them from shaking.

No, she couldn't go to the festivities at the market. Who was she fooling? She stopped at one of the mirrors and took off the sheer purple veil of her solstice gown. Her face was stuck in a frown, but she didn't have the strength to try and smile. She crumpled the veil in her hands, wishing she had gone for the white costume that covered her mouth.

But that costume had brought back so many memories.

She looked back to herself, and saw her eyes turn red and her hair darkening to a deeper rosy blonde. She could still do it, as easy as breathing. Over a decade had passed, and she never forgot.

She walked away from the mirror, hurrying down a different corridor. She still had to be at the ball by midnight, but she now had some time to visit her father.

The guards at the entrance of his room nodded as she passed, but said nothing. She closed the doors behind her with a sigh.

Her father's condition had not improved, and she didn't need nor want a report on  _that_. She walked up to his bed and sat on the edge.

He stared up at the ceiling, and made no move to acknowledge her.

"Dad?" whispered Zelda, moving closer so he could see her. "Today is the carnival of the solstice. Everybody will be at the ball tonight-"

Zelda stopped herself when her voice cracked. She felt stupid for crying now, when her father had been like this for over a year. He had even stopped talking to her for months, so what was new?

Her father blinked, and tears fell from his eyes. She wiped them with the edge of her sleeve.

"Magda? is that you?" asked her father with a hoarse voice.

She sighed, and hoped she wasn't in for another one of his nights of screaming and yelling.

"No. Magda is not here" she said. Magda had left months ago after going insane when she remembered her own murder at the hands of Ganondorf’s minions. It was a thing that had kept happening more and more often, especially to the people serving at the castle who had been the first to be killed during the attack. 

"Impa? Impa, is that you?" he asked.

Zelda pursed her lips. It was a bad night, for sure.

"No, it's-" she tried to say, but her father held her hand.

"Impa, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me Impa. Please."

Zelda fought with herself to not pull her hand away from him.

But it was so hard.


	8. Chapter 8

In the middle of the sandstorm, Dark pulled Link against him just to shout in his ear

"I hate the desert!"

Link pushed him away, but kept holding on to Dark's hand. They had to keep running or the phantom guide would leave them behind. And they couldn't let go of each other.

After what seemed like hours of running, the Spirit Temple appeared before them, and with a last cackle the guide vanished. Dark collapsed to the ground, quickly getting covered by the sand.

"No! Get up, I don't want to find out what happens to me if you die!" cried Link.

Dark only grumbled incoherently in response. "Tell me again why we couldn't just teleport here," he complained.

"Dark,  _please,_ " said Link, pulling him up.  "Nabooru and Zelda would have felt it if I did. We don't have much time as it is, Nabooru's at some party on the castle, so…"

Finally the shadow deigned to stand, and Link turned to survey the expanse of desert that still separated them from the temple.

Dark huffed and pulled up fistfuls of sand. "A party for what?" he asked.

"I think it's some kind of ball," said Link, looking out towards the temple.

He felt like he was ten again. Or, had he really been ten years old back then? No, he hadn't. After his sleep at the temple of time, he had completely lost count of his age. He figured he could find out how old he really was if he sat down to count his trips back and forth, but the idea seemed too depressing to try.

"Why would they make a party for a ball? Does the princess has to make parties for her toys?" asked Dark.

When Link turned around to tell his shadow how much of an idiot he was being, he found the other's hand inside his shirt and sand falling all the way down into his underpants.

"Noooo!" he cried, but by the time he had shouted, Dark had already pulled his green cap over his eyes and ran out to the temple.

"Why?! Goddesses, I hate myself!" complained Link, pulling his cap away from his eyes.

A long time later, Link caught up with his shadow deep inside the spirit temple.

"I thought you would never arrive" said Dark, leaning against a wall and looking at his fingernails.

"How the hell did you dodge all the traps?" asked Link, realizing for the first time that his shadow didn't carry a sword or any kind of weapon.

"I didn't. I moved through the shadows when I found something I couldn't cross and investigated to my leisure," said Dark, strolling towards Link with a mischievous smile. "Did you know the Gerudos have a changing room in here?"

Link opened his mouth to ask what he meant, but knew the answer before he could ask the question, so he jumped straight to the order.

"You're giving that underwear back," he said, pointing at Dark.

Dark laughed, patting his hips. "But it's so comfortable!"

Link blocked out everything his shadow said from then on.

Around them, the spirit temple hummed with power, and Link couldn't help his mind from drifting back to Nabooru and the other sages. After Ganondorf had been sealed and Zelda had put time back together, the sages had become the rulers of the country, becoming far more powerful than Link had ever thought possible, and mastering abilities that awed him beyond anything he had previously seen. They had offered to train him, to make him even more powerful than them. And, in an unspoken question, to marry Zelda.

But he couldn't even stomach the idea. To become a powerful king and rule the most powerful kingdom in the continent. It all seemed like too much for someone like him, who delighted in fishing at the lake and reading books on a cabin deep in the forest. He was a hero, he would never deny or forget that, but true heroes never became kings. It was one of the things you learned after it was all over, and you were left to stare at the rubble of your past.

"Stop dwelling on it" said Dark, as they entered the central room with the huge statue of a woman.

Link frowned at the reminder that they could share their thoughts. "I'm not," he said.

"Of course you are, you keep wondering if you should have stayed in the city and if they still need you. But they don't. All they wanted was for you to destroy Ganondorf and restore them to power. Now all they want from you is to be a pretty jewel on their shiny pretence of a perfect royalty," said Dark, tapping the tip of Link's nose.

Link frowned and stepped away from him. "Stop it. Why should I even listen to you? You tried to kill me. I should be returning you the favor."

"But if you did, who would be left to really  _listen_  to you?" wondered Dark, with a seductive wink as he leaned against the railing of the stairs

Link wanted to hit him, to hit him again and again, even if he was sure he would feel the same pain. Because he already was feeling it. Because he was starting to understand that now, even if he found a way to get rid of his shadow, he wouldn't do it. He couldn't even imagine going back to the absolute loneliness he had isolated himself in. He didn't want the company of the people he had saved, but he still longed for someone.

His heart skipped a beat, as he understood why Dark had been so confident about Link wanting to get rid of him.

He knew.

He knew that Link had called him, in his dreams, wanting to talk to someone who would understand. Someone who would  _remember_.

And who could understand him better than his own self?

Link took a step forward, opening his mouth to speak, when something on the level beneath them caught his attention.

Lying on the altar at the feet of the Gerudo goddess, was Sheik.


	9. Chapter 9

Dark's smirk vanished as he saw Link's surprised face.

He turned around and saw Sheik lying on the altar. Thinking the same thoughts, they both jumped to the ground and ran towards him. Link slowed down a few steps away from the altar, unsure of what to do.

"What is Zelda doing here?" he asked, remembering that the friend he had trusted wasn't real, but only Zelda's alter ego.

"Think I should hide?" asked Dark.

Link bit his lip and nodded. He didn't like the feeling of being alone once Dark vanished into his shadow, but he didn't want Zelda to wake up suddenly and arrive at the wrong conclusions. Or the right conclusions, for that matter. There just wasn't a good way to explain the fact that he had kept a being of darkness with him.

Link took a few steps and tried to touch Zelda, but his hands suddenly burned and he retreated with a yelp. For a few seconds he saw something flash all over the altar, a kind of shield.

"Zelda?" he called, determination finally settling in. "Zelda, can you hear me?"

"Of course she can't, asshat" said Dark from his shadow "If she could she would have already said something. You need to destroy the shield"

"But I might hurt her," he said and leaned in as close as he could, looking at the only visible eye beneath the locks of golden hair; closed as if in deep sleep.

"The energy on the shield feels familiar, but new…" mused Dark.

"I know, it's like a combination. There's Nabooru's spirit energy …and Rauru's light energy, I think," said Link, waving his palms over the energy shield enclosing his friend. "Maybe they're doing some kind of new technique? We should probably not interfere."

Dark came out of the shadow, reforming himself next to Link. "I don't think so. Look," he pointed to the thick layer of dust on the altar and the floor around it. Dust that would have needed months, even years to settle.

"What is going on in here?" growled Link, starting to get angry.

He opened his pack and took out the spirit and light medallions, not caring if the sages sensed their energy. If they did, all the better. They would have a lot to answer soon.

"Hold this and stand at the opposite of me" Link ordered to Dark as he stood near Zelda's head

"Uhmm, maybe I shouldn't stay here if all hell breaks loose. I don't really like friendly parties, and I'm sure your friends won't like me," said Dark, suddenly very nervous.

"I don't care. They have a lot to explain, and I'm free to do whatever I want. If they ask, I separated from my shadow to have someone to talk with, and that's it," said Link with a tone of finality.

Dark closed his mouth and frowned. Link was settling back into his old "Ruthless Hero" act and one didn't want to be near him when he did that. Dark knew it by experience, Link had almost killed him when he did, back in the Water Temple.

They both stood opposite of each other and held out the medallions. The light energy burned at Dark's hands, but he said nothing and covered his feelings so Link couldn't sense them.

The shield around the altar became visible. Swirling energy of light and spirit, draining it's power from the past and present, from one extreme of Hyrule to the other. Link growled and unleashed the power of the medallion, Dark moved too, as if he were a mere mirror image of the hero. Dark smiled at the thought of it, knowing that it was true.

The shield started to dissolve as it's energy flowed through the medallions, slowly it thinned until the last particles vanished. Inside, Zelda drew a long, deep breath.

"She's waking up!" shouted Link and dropped the medallion to lift her up.

"Oh, joy…" said Dark, his voice dripping sarcasm, as he dropped the medallion like it was on fire. He took off his cap and wiped the blood from his hands as quickly as he could, then hid the cap on his pocket. The wounds around his forearm started smoking and closed off right away. Still, the pain persisted, like a small knife tearing his flesh under the skin. He looked over at Link, but it seemed like he wasn't feeling anything. Dark grit his teeth at the realization that he could not feel the pain inflicted by light energy.

"Zelda? What happened to you? Are you ok?" asked Link, putting a hand to her shoulder.

A bright red eye opened and the person sat up.

"What is this?! Who has brought me here?!" he yelled with a deep, masculine voice.

"S-sheik?!" stuttered Link, taking a few steps back. Sheik turned his head towards him, then looked at the shadow still standing near the altar.

"Hero, explain what is happening right now, or I will attack," he said this while looking directly at the shadow, his hands suddenly full of throwing daggers.

"No! Wait, we just found you!" cried Link, stepping between them. "We had no idea you were here or why you're here, and…I thought you weren't real!"

Sheik's eyes widened

"Not real? Hero, I have guided you through six temples and you suddenly think I'm not real? What is going on? Is this another of Ganondorf's trickeries?"

"What? Ganondorf? What are you talking about? He's been trapped for…wait, how long have you been here?"

"First tell me what is that  _thing_ "

Dark Link was looking at Sheik's legs delightedly, and gave Link an amused look. He had already understood, but Link was decided to  _not_  understand.

"T-that's…my shadow. Uhm, he escaped from the sacred realm"

"I had a little help with my amazing escape, of course" said Dark, looking at his fingernails again, as if not really caring what happened.

"But he's not evil! Don't hurt him, please, just… please, tell me what happened. Who are you?"

Sheik's grasp on his daggers strengthened.

" _Who am I?_ Have you hit your head, hero? I am Sheik, of the Sheikah. I am your guide. Now explain to me why was I asleep in the Temple of the Spirit?"

"Zelda said you were a lie."

"What?"

Link looked downward, unwilling to see Sheik in the eyes.

"In the Temple of Time, she transformed and said that it had been her all along," he said

Sheik seemed confused for a moment.

"How long have I been here?" he finally asked, his voice soft as a whisper

"I don't-"

"How long?"

"Counting time forward from the moment I saw Zelda on the Temple of Time…almost nine years."

Sheik let himself fall to the floor, his gaze suddenly blank.

"W-what?...Nine years…here?" he whispered. Link knelt next to him, smiling to keep his tears in check.

"You're real. I can't believe I found you" he hugged the Sheikah, who seemed to calm down.

They walked to the stairs and sat down there.

"I can't remember anything" said Sheik "After I taught you the spirit temple song, I went back to the princess to inform her, and…I think something hit me. I don't know. Was I under some kind of spell or curse? This could have been a trap of Ganondorf's minions"

"Sheik…Ganondorf's gone. Everything of him has vanished into a sealed alternate timeline…This wasn't done by him."

"Then why, who?...And how do we know he's not in this too?!" he pointed at the Shadow

"I was imprisoned for almost as long as you were. If Link hadn't gotten me out of the Sacred Realm, I would still be there now. Also, it was  _my_  idea to come here, so you could at least be nice to me"

"You got him out of the Sacred Realm?" asked Sheik, glaring at Link.

Link sighed. He always had to stumble into these things, whether he liked it or not, and now a new mystery reared its ugly head. But he wasn't about to complain, after he had gotten back his only friend.

"It's kind of a long story. But now we don't have much time, we must get to the sacred altar before Nabooru, the sage of spirit, realizes we're here. I need to see what I can do about…a dark object."

"You might want to hold back on calling us 'Dark'. Sheik will get a wrong impression if you keep that up. I mean, we've been housemates for more than half a year, so…"

Sheik shook his head, tiredness overcoming the instinct of battle always ready to jump up at the minor provocation. Link looked at him and gave him a sad smile. He remembered how tired, confused and sick he felt after waking up in the temple of time.

"How about you just explain me everything that happened in order? We'll deal with what it all means later" said the Sheikah, and they all got up to go to the altar in the gerudo goddess.

 #

 "A shield made of light and spirit power, that is…surprising." Said Sheik, in a tone that said that the word wasn't  _surprising,_  but something far harsher. After all, the only ones who could have done that were Nabooru and Rauru. Link also understood that, but he had more than enough to worry about, and wanted to take things one by one. That had always helped him deal with everything before, and few things were worse than having a monstrous moon hanging over you all the time, waiting for you to screw up and fall. 

One thing at a time, that was the way.

"Yes," said Link, refusing to say anything more about that.

"But you came here to get rid of an object, one that you don't want anyone to know. Since I'm already here" Link gritted his teeth at Sheik's cold tone "I think I can know what it is. It can't be worse than seeing the physical embodiment of your darkness, can it?"

"Hey, pretty boy. I'm Right. Here." Growled Dark "And it is way, way worse than me. How's it about facing a demented god?"

"He's not mad" said Link, angry at that. He felt like defending the deity, but didn't know why.

"Just very close to it"

They stared at the hole in the floor in front of them, and before Link could say anything, Sheik jumped down into it. Link could feel Dark snickering behind him before he hid in his shadow. He jumped down too.

"What now?" asked Sheik

"Uh?"

"Well, since you jumped too, you must know a way to get from here to there" he pointed to the entrance on the goddess' face.

"Oh, yes. Here" he took out his hookshot, and bumped head first into the reason Dark had snickered and hid in his shadow "Uh, I'm gonna have to…we're going to…The hookshot will…"

Sheik raised an eyebrow. "Do I have to hold on to you?" he asked.

Link felt his face turning red. "Y-yeah, that…yes."

Sheik crossed his arms and looked hard at him. Then he laughed. The sound echoed in the stone hall, making Link feel very small.

"You are…much better than I remember you, hero"

"Better?" asked Link, trying hard not to think about how different the word hero sounded, coming from Sheik's lips. Instead of making it sound like a burden, Sheik said it like it was just something he was, a part of him.

"You seem…happier. I'd always been very concerned about you…I thought, that even if we didn't make it through, I would at least want you to have some moments of happiness…I'm sorry I never got to do it."

"Don't be sorry! I…well, you're my best friend Sheik"

Beneath Link's feet, his shadow prickled at his feet.

"I'm still Right Here. Am I not counted in your friends?"

"No," said Link.

"I'm hurt."

"Well, you could be…something like my family, maybe. My twin brother?"

"Ooh, I'm the evil twin! I love it! Sheik can be the hot blonde we both fight for"

A sheikah dagger hit the shadow, but Dark only laughed.

"Eh, don't mind him, he just wants to be mean," said Link.

"I'm sure he does," said Sheik.

Link gave Sheik back the dagger and pointed the hookshot towards the entrance, but his aim wavered when the sheikah held on to him with both arms.

"Haven't been practicing?" asked Sheik, looking at the tiny red dot moving all over the statue.

Link laughed nervously.

"Yeah, there hasn't, uhm, been much to do" he straightened his aim, focusing on the door, and not in how oddly warm was Sheik's body, for someone trapped in a magical shield for nearly a decade.

Or how he still had the same exotic scent as he did in the war.

He still couldn't aim.

And suddenly, something grabbed hold of him, from inside. Something cold, buzzing with energy, grabbed his wrist and pointed at the door firmly and shot.

" _If I leave it to you, I'll never get out of here"_  said a far away voice in his mind.

The sensation was gone when they landed, and Sheik said nothing, but let go of him too fast. As if wanting to get away.

"I had to hold you when I shot. Sorry, I just had to, uhm, make sure you didn't fall," said Link.

"I know. Let's go," said Sheik, walking ahead without waiting for him.

Dark materialized next to Link. "Did you touch him?" he asked in a whisper, tracing his hands up and down Link's waist to emphasize his point.

Link shivered and felt his face burning. "No," he whispered, and pushed him away.

Dark grinned. "You should have"

Link tried to strangle him, but Sheik called for them to approach the altar, so he just made a mental note of it.

They hiked their way up to the altar platform. It looked like it hadn't been used in years, and the silence around it felt heavy.

"How are you going to get him out?" asked Sheik, and Link felt like iced fire ran through his veins. He hadn't planned what to tell him at this point.

"Him?"

"The one who possessed you back in the platform"

"You heard him?"

"No. I saw him" he turned and pointed at his red eye, then at the eye painted in his chest "Sheikah eyes. I can see spirits. I was going to joke about how you couldn't aim, but when I looked up, you weren't there, it was this…odd, very tall person. With white hair, I couldn't see him clearly, but I knew it wasn't you"

"…I'm sorry, I didn't know how to explain it."

"Whatever he is, we need to get him out of you. If he can possess your body, he can have access to the power of the triforce"

Link pulled the mask out of his pack, while Dark paced around the platform, inspecting the details on the carpet. 

The shadow could catch glimpses of Link's memories of his battle there. He picked at a burned hole in the carpet with his foot, remembering a blow of fire rushing towards Link, while the witches cackled behind him.

"Stop that," called Link from the other end of the platform. "You can ask, alright?" he said with a tone of annoyance.

Dark rolled his eyes. "You can ask," he muttere in a whiny voice, mocking him.

Link huffed and stood up with the mask in his hands, and noticed Sheik frowning at him.

"What was he doing?" asked the Sheikah with concern. 

Link tried to smile and waved a hand to show it wasn't important. "Uh, nothing just...we have this weird bond where we can sort of...uhm..."

"We share minds," yelled Dark nonchalantly.

"You  _what?_ " asked Sheik, hands on his hips and glaring at Link.

"No, no! We don't  _actually_  share minds. It's more like... Like our minds are rooms next to each other. We can hear what the other thinks if we try, and we sometimes can go inside each other's room and see what's there," said Link with a tense smile. "He was looking at my memories of the battle with Twinrova."

Sheik looked straight into Link's eyes, as if he could see something in them. Link felt exposed, and looked away from Sheik's harsh stare, praying in his mind that Sheik didn't decide that he now posed a threat. He couldn't take that. Not now, and not from him.

"So you both know what the other one is doing at all times?" asked Sheik with a softer tone, but his guarded stance didn't change. "Sounds uncomfortable."

Link shrugged and went to stand at the center of the platform. "I don't notice it most of the time. In a way, it's more comfortable when he does most of the talking and I don't have to explain myself."

Sheik nodded. "You were never the talkative type. I see that hasn't changed."

 

Link knelt down to place the mask at the center of the platform. Dark hovered around him, acting nonchalant, but Link could feel him paying attention to every one of his movements.

"I didn't know it could possess me while I wasn't wearing the mask. He never tried it before. He must be getting restless," said Link

"Being locked in that thing, I would feel restless too," said Dark

"That doesn't matter. What should we do now?" asked Sheik, looking at the mask, but unwilling to touch it.

"I'm not sure," said Link. "I thought of using the power of the medallions, but…I already used them to free you from the shield, and I'm worried Nabooru or Rauru might notice."

"What about using that song the masks man taught you?" asked Dark, and hummed the tune.

"Hmm, well, that might be useful; but I don't have the ocarina of time anymore," said Link, standing up. "Even if I played the song on my ocarina, it would be no good."

"I could play it in my harp. I'm not as good with magic as her highness, but I think I could manage." Said Sheik, taking out a harp from under the cloth over his chest that had the eye of truth painted on it. 

Dark narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down. Then he felt him under the cloth in his chest. Sheik hit him on the face  with the harp.

"What are you doing?!" yelled the Sheikah.

Link gasped, stuck between trying to stop his shadow, and gaping at the Dark had  _felt up Sheik._  He had felt the blow of the harp against his own face too, but he was too shocked to react.

"Where do you  _carry_  that?" asked Dark, ignoring the drip of black blood falling from where the harp had struck him. "I mean, where do you put it? There is just no space in your clothes."

Sheik growled. "Do that again, and-," he started.

"Fine," said Dark wit a smirk and reached towards him. He blinked, and found a dagger in the middle of his forehead "Ah, sarcasm. I get it now."

"I can explain it more clearly if you need me to," said Sheik, showing two more knives in his hand.

"No, no, it's alright," said Dark, and pulled pulled the dagger out of his forehead. Black blood dribbled down, smelling like smoke. "But you should perhaps ask first before attacking the mirror image of your hero" he pointed at Link, who stumbled backwards. Bright red blood fell from the wound on his forehead.

"I'm fine," he said, and slowly fell to the floor.


	10. Chapter 10

When he woke up again, Sheik was sitting next to him, and Dark sat on the opposite side. He still reeked of smoke and blood.

"Whut?" asked Link, blinking, but the light from the torches hurt his eyes. Sheik looked down at him, concern in his eyes.

"Why didn't you say you two were linked?"

Link laughed, and Sheik put down the paper he had been reading.

"Are you alright? Link? Can you understand me?"

"He's fine, he's just dizzy." Said Dark. Link realized what he was doing and stopped laughing.

"uh…I…I didn't know. I never tried to hurt myself, and we never really fought like this. But, it's nice to know it now."

"I was so worried. I cured you with a red potion you had on you." He narrowed his only visible eye. "You should have told me that you also shared damage. If I had known the bond you two share was so strong, I would have never…"

"What? Bond?"

"I explained it all to him, Blondie A" said Dark, pulling him up.

"Blondie A?"

"Yep. You're Blondie A, he's Blondie B. I'm the hot dark haired evil twin, but I haven't decided what Oni is."

"I think I'm not the only one hallucinating."

"He's been blabbing gibberish all this time. You two go sit over there until you stop hallucinating, I'll play the song to the mask." Sheik shooed them away, and stood near the mask, which laid in the center of the tapestry.

Link leaned against his shadow and they both limped away. With each step Link felt his head clearing, and the sound of Sheik's harp soothed his worries.

"We should kidnap him and make him play for us every day." Said Dark, looking at Sheik with a sharp grin.

"He'll go back to the castle," said Link, letting his head fall against Dark's shoulder.

"A bad idea, considering they're the ones most likely to have put him in the shield," said Dark.

Link refused to believe that. "We can't be sure," he said.

"You just don't want to accept that it's the truth."

"But why would Zelda and the sages do that? Sheik was always the most loyal to them."

"Well, he doesn't seems the same, does he? He doesn't seem as worried as he should be about going to the castle, or making sure Zelda is alright. He was always so obsessive about her back then."

"Yes. But…well, It's awkward to suddenly wake up and find you've spent the past decade sleeping," said Link. He felt something like anxiety building in his chest. His stomach felt like throwing up, and the scar healing on his forehead itched.

"But he woke up and sprinted into action, like he did back then. Now he's just…so calm. I don't know. You know what I mean, don't make me put it into words," said Dark, and gritted his teeth. He started feeling dizzy, like he needed to lie down a moment.

"Yes. But…I like that he seems much calmer," said Link. He wanted to relax and lie down. With every note, his heart quickened, and he felt like he had lost something important. He tried to remember what it was. He was so sure there was something he was missing.

"Doesn't it feels like the calm before the storm?" asked Dark.

"It...kind of...does," said Link with a sigh, as if in a daze.

Dark held on to Link's tunic, and stumbled forward. He felt like he was falling asleep. Not like he usually did, by drifting softly into darkness, but by being pulled...  _dragged,_  into the absolute black of a dreamless sleep.

"Link, I...I feel," he panted.

Link tried to hold on to him, but his fingers felt numb, and Dark slipped from his grasp, sliding to the floor even as he tried to reach out to him. Link fell to his knees next to him, and grabbed Dark's hand. He could barely hear the other one's thoughts, as if the door between their mindspaces had closed.

_Don't go,_  thought Link as he lost all strength and his body crumbled to the ground next to his shadow's. He felt Dark's fingers holding on to him, and then...

Then there was light.

And everything vanished.


	11. Chapter 11

Link woke up again, and found himself being carried on his shadow's back. They walked in silence out of the gerudo fortress, and he could hear the rushing sound of the waterfalls close by.

"W-what happened?" he mumbled, but still had no strength to move.

"He's awake" said a deep voice behind them, and Link's heart skipped a beat. 

The person walked up next to him, and Link had to look up at the tall, cloaked figure that stared down at him with completely white eyes.

"The Fierce Deity?" wondered Link.

"Not anymore. Or maybe…something like it," said Link, with a smile to his voice. "His name's Oni Link which I believe qualifies him as a demon. Pretty neat, eh. You just got a demonic older brother, Blondie."

Link groaned. "How long have I been asleep? Can someone tell me what happened?" he asked.

"I can carry him now," said Sheik

"No, you're too tiny, love," said Dark, making kissy faces at Sheik. 

"If only I could tear you apart," said Sheik with a growl.

"If only. It's Oni's turn, he's been tagging along for free all this time," said Dark, jogging up to the taller Link.

Oni stepped away. "I don't want to carry him."

"Neither do I. Oh, the irony," said Dark, taking Link off his back and up in his arms. "Catch!"

Link's stomach did a backwards flip when he felt himself being thrown from one man to the other, and he blacked out. When he regained his conciousness, he felt a pair of hands at his throat, despite the fact that there were none.

"You're going to kill him with your stupidity!" yelled Sheik.

"S-sheik, you're hurting him," gasped Dark, and Link could see that Sheik had tackled him to the ground and tried to strangle him.

"It's for a good cause," said Sheik.

"I agree," said Oni, and Link realized he was on the deity's back. His own body still felt like a heavy, numb thing over him and he couldn't even lift his head.

Link coughed when the pain at his throat became too much. "What happened?" he asked again, and Sheik let go of the shadow.

"When I finished the song you transformed into the deity."

"I'm here, you know," said Oni, voice devoid of any emotion.

Sheik rolled his eyes. "Goddesses, they're the same," he muttered, passing a hand through some of the golden bangs that had escaped his bandages. "I'm not sure what happened. You and Dark just fainted one moment. You...turned white. Completely white, even your clothes and your skin. Then that- I mean...  _He_  stood up, as if a ghost had lifted from your body, to wear the mask."

"I am the mask," said Oni Link. "It was merely my energy concentrated into a physical form to contain it. This," he placed a hand on his chest. "is merely a different container. A mobile one."

"Nice," said Dark, lifting an eyebrow. "So we're like walking jars to you."

"That would be an adequate example," said Oni.

"I was being sarcastic," growled Dark.

"I know. It was still an adequate example."

Link sighed. "That's enough. We get the idea. How long was I asleep for?"

Sheik walked up to him and tucked some of Link's hair behind his ear. "You have been asleep for half a day," he said.

Link nodded with a tired smile. "Shortest magical nap I've had."

Sheik laughed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was ran over by Ganon. I want to move," said Link, trying to lift his hands, and failing. "But I don't have enough strength. Sorry, uh, Oni. Is it alright if I call you Oni?"

"It's fine," said the Deity, and kept walking.

"You need rest," said Sheik, putting his mask back on. "There is a small village nearby, and we can spend the night there. It would have been better for you to wait until tomorrow at the temple. But I thought you would prefer for us to keep moving, considering what you said about the Spirit Sage." 

"Yes, that's... much better. But, you don't have to stay with me. If you want to hurry and go straight to the castle, you could be there by first hour tomorrow. Zelda will see you right away, and I... I would just prefer it if you didn't tell her about us."

Sheik shook his face, but said no more, and Link noticed how the mask changed his appearance completely. It made him look more dangerous, and even his red eyes seemed darker. Sheik, for all the worry and politeness he showed towards him, could easily kill any man faster than the blink of an eye. And even more, he would not think twice about doing it. Link wondered if he would also not think twice about  _betraying_  someone. After all, that seemed simpler than stabbing.

"I won't leave you alone," said Sheik after a moment of consideration, patting Link's back.

"He's not alone." Said Dark, carrying a tiny bunny by the ears. "I brought him dinner."

"Being with yourself is not considered company," said Sheik. "And leave that alone, we'll eat at the village."

"It looked tasty."

Link smiled. "Nothing's tasty after you cook it."

Dark rolled his eyes at him. "If you weren't so picky with the food and ate it raw like me…"


	12. Chapter 12

Sheik left the three Links at the room of the second floor of the inn and walked downstairs to order dinner for all of them.

His body still buzzed with all the repressed emotions from the day. Too much had happened, too fast.

Or too slow, depending on how you saw it. The irony of things always made Sheik smile tensely.

After he ordered dinner, he went outside to look at the stars. He couldn't remember anything from his sleep, but he felt a need to see the stars again that he couldn't explain. A part of his self had missed looking up at them.

" _Shortest magical nap I've had."_

The memory of Link's words made him laugh, and a few passers by stared at him. Sheik watched them resume walking in the silent summer night. So Ganondorf had really been defeated. He needed no more proof than to see the people walk at ease around the village, talking animatedly with each other and laughing.

He'd missed laughing so much. Which made it all better to hear Link laugh. Most things were getting better than he had expected. Even if at the same time, others turned out darker and more dangerous than he could understand. Things he hadn't even been aware of. Like the fact that he had apparently spent the last nice years asleep. He found that he understood how Link had felt, descending from the temple of Light after those seven years had passed.

Now he knew the way he had felt, walking out into a new world, covered in darkness.

Sheik looked up to the clear sky full of stars, and realized that while Link had woken up to a nightmare, he had woken up to a dream. Ganondorf was gone. Gone for good. Sheik tried to feel happy for it. Or at least relieved, but he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that the shield he had been trapped in had apparently been created by the sages of Light and Spirit. He didn't want to believe it. He wanted to think Link had been wrong, and he had somehow been captured by one of Ganondorf's minions, but...

_"Zelda said you weren't real. That it had been her all along."_

He clenched his fists. That made no sense, and was the only reason he had decided to stay back with. There was no reason the princess would say that. During seven years he had protected her, served her, and kept her out of harm's way, even when he had to turn his back to the way the Sheikah had been hunted down like animals. So why?

The only thing he could think about was that she and the sages had decided that Sheik posed a threat. And if they thought so, there were only two answers: That he was indeed a treath to them at that point in the war, for reasons he currently couldn't remember nor understand, possibly involved Ganon's magic. That, or there was a traitor among them, plotting against him. And if the second alternative was right, the traitor was still around, and even worse, around princess Zelda.

He still wanted to run to princess Zelda right away. To demand an explanation. But after hearing Link's story, he couldn't leave his side. Something had happened, and Link hadn't explained even half of it.

Sheik knew when things started to get out of control, and right now they were far, far from any kind of order.

He felt the shadow's  presence before he made himself known by ticking at Sheik's ankles.

"Dinner's served, sir," he said with mock formality.

Sheik looked down at the living shadow smirking at him from the ground, and in his eyes he saw a tinge of blue, shining just under the surface.

He had known from the first moment, that he couldn't destroy him.


	13. Chapter 13

Link took a deep sigh. Dark and Sheik weren't back yet, and he couldn't help but worry about them getting into a fight. He wished he could move, but his strength returned slowly, and he couldn't even push himself up on the bed. He looked at the Oni Link sitting at the open window, and looking out to the night sky. He felt weird thinking of him as the Oni Link, and he didn't know what to think of the whole thing.

"Don't think too much about it," said the Deity, without even looking back at Link.

"So you can listen to my thoughts too? It will start feeling crowded in my head soon," said Link, unable to keep the bitterness off his voice. He couldn't help but feel exposed.

"I can, but they do not interest me in the least," said Oni.

"Hmph, well, that makes everything better," growled Link sarcastically, turning to face the wall.

The deity scoffed a laugh. "You sound just like your shadow."

"We are all the  _same_  person. We are all _me._ We're supposed to sound the same," said Link. He was getting tired of himself.

There was a weight at the foot of the bed, and Link looked there to find the deity sitting next to his feet. He hadn't even heard him get off the window sill.

"Are you the same as your shadow? Could you cease existing and be replaced by him?" asked the deity.

Link felt a shiver run down his spine. "Of course not!"

"Good, because you can't. That is why you both suffer the same wounds at the same time. Because neither of you can leave this world without the other."

Link pouted. "That's...not something I like to hear, but it's oddly comforting."

Oni narrowed his white eyes. "Are you aware that you do not project an actual shadow? I don't think you are."

"Uh?" said Link, and looked at the wall, where he could see the shadows of the covers, the pillows...everything but his and Oni's shadows.

He prepared to scream.


	14. Chapter 14

"And he hated it. Absolutely hated it. Even though I put pepper and salt and other cool shit on the fish," said Dark, walking in front of Sheik, and opening the door of the inn for him. "I can't believe he doesn't appreciate my efforts to cook him something nice."

Sheik nodded, walking into the inn. "And how much salt and pepper and cool shit did you put on the fish?"

"A lot! Handfuls of the stuff!"

"Well, that answers all my questions about your cooking," said Sheik.

Dark gasped, and laughed. "Shit! He just realized! I've got to see his face!" he said, and ran upstairs to the room where they had left Link and the Fierce Deity.

Sheik ran after him, because anything that Dark found funny had the potential to be deadly and/or horrifying. Sheik ran into the room to find the deity covering Link's mouth while the hero tried to hit him and push him away without much success. Dark Link cackled next to the door.

"I can't believe you didn't notice it before!" he said, holding his stomach.

Link glared at him, and then turned completely red when he noticed that Sheik was looking at him. The fierce deity let go of him and stood up. 

"I was stopping him from screaming so we wouldn't attract attention, but your racket just ruined it," he said, waving a hand towards the shadow dismissively.

Link took a deep breath and tried to push himself up on the bed. Sheik walked up to him. 

"Don't move too much. You're still weak," said the Sheikah, arranging the pillows to support him.

"Thank you Sheik. I'm sorry, I just... I can't believe I never realized this. It's not something I would miss," said Link.

"I was waiting for you to notice," said Dark, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Since when have I not had a shadow?" asked Link.

"How long ago did I escape the dark realm?" wondered Dark.

"Since then? Goddesses, I can't believe it. And...nobody else noticed it?"

"I noticed," said Sheik, looking at Link with concern on his bright red eyes. "Did you seriously not realize that you did not project a shadow anymore?"

"He didn't," said Dark. "Even though I'm right here. Seriously. Right here."

Link let his head fall on the pillows. "I need to sleep," he said.

Sheik patted Link's head and stood up. "Don't you want to eat something first?"

Link pouted and shook his head. He wanted to be alone.

Dark Link and Sheik went out of the room, but the fierce deity stood at the door for a moment, with his hand at the doorknob. 

"You're not going insane," he said.

"Then what is happening to me?" asked Link, hitting the covers in despair. 

"You are aware of two different conciousness on two different bodies, of different timelines and the way they interconnected as well as the different outcomes of both. And  _also_  share thoughts with with your shadow. It is really no surprise that some things escape you. Your mortal mind was not meant to keep a hold of all that, and its limitations are starting to show."

Link grumbled, but said no more.


	15. Chapter 15

The three of them sat at a table far at the back of the main room at the inn. It was a slow night, with few travelers around, but he still worried about anyone recognizing them. It was already bad enough that the fierce deity's height alone attracted attention.

"You couldn't have chosen a shorter physical form?" whispered Sheik, when he noticed the serving girl staring at them from the entrance of the kitchen.

"This was the only physical form worthy of me," said he deity.

Dark snickered and Sheik glared at him.

"Dude, what would you have done if someone unworthy had worn the mask back in Termina?" asked the shadow, and took a drink of his mead. The deity had declined any kind of food.

"I would have destroyed them. The hero of time, though, was an adequate enough vessel for me."

"So, are you really a god?" asked Sheik, realizing halfway just how ridiculous the question sounded.

"Indeed."

"That's... I mean, I have never heard of any gods besides the three goddesses that created Hyrule."

Oni growled low in his throat. "Din, Farore, and Nayru might have created Hyrule, but I found them to be terribly annoying bores. And it is a humilliating coincidence that I had to rely on them to recover a physical form."

"They helped you to escape the mask?" asked Sheik.

The deity smirked, and Sheik noticed that his fangs were far sharper thank Link's.

"I wouldn't call that help. But because the hero of time had a piece of the triforce, he was touched by a divine essence which allowed me to inhabit his body with almost my full power. Any other mortal would have been consumed and torn by my power. The goddesses will not appreciate this outcome from the use of their triforce though."

_That_ caught Sheik's attention. "They would be angry?" he asked.

"Din is always angry," said Oni, waving a hand dismissively. "And Farore throws a fit over everything. I highly doubt they will care enough to send down rains of fire as punishment, though Din used to fancy those back in the day."

Sheik rubbed his temple. This had to be one of the weirdest conversations he had ever been in. "Well, that's good to know. Rains of fire would not be a welcome thing," said Sheik, because why not? why not point out the obvious?

"But the princess, she should not know of my existence yet," said Oni. "She has been touched by Nayru, who is petty, and thinks she is smarter than me. She is not."

Sheik wanted to ask about that, and for a moment wished that the shadow would quip in with some smartass comment that would prompt the deity to speak. But Dark's smirk turned tense, and he sat back without a word.


	16. Chapter 16

Link felt slim fingers caressing the side of his head, and knew instantly that it was Sheik's hand.

_"Don't open your eyes. He wants us to get going, but he doesn't want to wake you up, and he's making the cutest face, glaring down at you,"_ said Dark straight into Link's mind.

Link couldn't help but shiver at the intrusion in his mind, and he heard Sheik laugh above him.

"Did I wake you?" he asked, and his face did look very cute as he looked down at him. At least, the half of it that Link could see despite the mask.

"Not really," said Link, pushing himself up. He still felt disoriented and tired, but most of his strength had returned. He gave a meaningful glare at Dark Link, who was sprawled on the floor in the middle of the room.

"Good morning sunshine," said the shadow with a feline smirk.

"Where is the deity?" asked Link, putting on his cap and carrying his pack.

"Outside," said Dark, falling back on the floor into the shape of Link's shadow. "He said he would wait for us beyond the gates. That's why Sheik wanted us to get going soon. Apparently Oni has some grudge with the goddesses. Which now means that _we_ have a grudge with the goddesses. And he also doesn't think it's such a hot idea to let Zelda know he exists."

Link felt the blood draining from his face as he jogged downstairs and out of the inn. "So we can't go straight to the castle?"

"That wouldn't be a good idea right now," said Sheik suddenly appearing behind Link.

Link gave a strangled gasp. "Sheik! I...I had forgotten that you could do that," he said, putting a hand over his heart. It have been a long while since he had dealt with people or things jumping on him. It seemed like peace time had spoiled him, and he felt a little dumb in front of Sheik.

"I thought you had noticed me," said Sheik, narrowing his eyes.

"He was talking to me," said Dark, reforming.

"Perhaps it would be better for you to not speak to each other like this. Talking to your shadow is bound to attract attention."

Link blinked, and pointed at Dark. "He has gray skin and red eyes."

Dark shrugged as if to say _True, true..._

"Can you...reform into something less eye catching?" asked Sheik.

"Oh, am I a little too attractive for your eyes?" asked Dark, winking at Sheik. Link felt his face burning up.

Oni Link hit Dark Link over the head, knocking his cap off and making Dark's long black hair spill out.

"That's enough. We have to leave now," said the Deity. "A gerudo squad approaches. The Spirit sage has noticed the Sheikah's absence."

Dark Link gasped, looking at his hands. He held Link's face, forcing him to look straight at him. "Let me use your eyes!" he demanded, and Link nodded in shock.

Throught Link's eyes, Dark saw that he now had tanned normal skin, and his bright red eyes had dulled to an off carmine that only shone red in the sun.

"What did you do to me?!" cried Dark

"They're coming!" said Sheik, pulling on Link's arm.

The fierce deity pulled Dark up and carried him over his shoulder while the shadow yelled at him.


	17. Chapter 17

Zelda knew Nabooru had arrived, but she still stayed in her father's room. He had just fallen asleep, and she wanted to enjoy those fleeting moments when his face didn't show how torn he was between the horrors of memories and the confusion of nothingness.

"I'm sorry," whispered Nabooru, standing a few steps away from her.

"No, it's ok. I…shouldn't linger," said Zelda, standing up from the edge of her father's bed. "What is it?"

They moved to a corner of the room, next to a window that overlooked the gardens where Zelda had first met Link.

"It's…the seal. I felt a disturbance in the Spirittemple, and…I…I truly don't know how, but when I arrived at the central sanctum Sheik wasn't there," said Nabooru.

A heavy weight settled on Zelda's chest. "What do you mean he wasn't there? He can't…He can't _not_ be there. That is impossible," she said.

Nabooru rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I know, I know.

"He couldn't have gotten up and walked away," said Zelda, using all of her will power to not start yelling. "I would have felt it. I...Rauru and you both used your power to anchor him."

Nabooru nodded. "I just spoke with Rauru. He didn't feel anything. Either of us would have felt the shield breaking, but we didn't, so it must not have been broken at all."

"Nabooru I don't understand," said Zelda, wishing the spirit sage would just tell her what it all meant. The very idea that Sheik was up and walking somewhere in Hyrule was pushing her to despair.

"It had to have been dissolved, but the only way to dissolve it is to use our own power. Zelda, the only person who has access to our own power is Link. Only he could have gone through the traps at the temple and dissolved the shield."

Zelda shook her head. "No, that can't be. He wouldn't...Why would he do something like that?" she said, taking a step away from Nabooru.

"It doesn't matter why," said Nabooru. "We need to find Link and figure out what he did, and we need to find him now, as soon as possible. The barrier between timelines has started. It's breaking in the Spirit Temple, and I cannot contain it for long."

Nabooru pulled off her gloves and showed her the cracks running through her hands, up her arms. Her corporeal form was cracking, much faster than Zelda could have imagined.


	18. Chapter 18

Sheik said nothing when Link showed him his tiny house on the edges of the forest, far from any village or city. Oh, he had a lot to say, but he had to pace himself and take one thing at a time.

"I know it's not that much, I fixed it in a hurry. Dark tried to help, but kept misplacing the tools, and falling asleep, and…well, I hope you don't mind spending the night here. We'll get going to the city tomorrow morning."

"It's very nice," he said, and Link sighed in relief.

Sheik looked at the rackety cabin made of wood again. On the left of the door was carved 'Dark wuz hier'. He laughed at seeing that, and Link peered closer.

"Oh, goddesses! Dark! What do you think you're doing?! Zelda could see that!"

"I was booored." Said the shadow from the window of the second floor, which looked like it had been built on a second thought. Dark put down the mirror in his hands and glared down at them. "And that's not important now! You have to tell Oni to turn me back!"

Link scratched his head. "Have you tried turning into a shadow and then back again?"

Dark rolled his eyes. "I have. Twice!"

Link could only shrug at him. The truth was that he didn't mind the change so much, and it made for less paranoia that someone might see Dark and realize that he was a creature of darkness.

"You look fine to me," was the only thing Link could say.

The shadow groaned and threw the mirror down at them. Then he climbed back into the house, and stalked downstairs to the kitchen, where the fierce deity rummaged around the pantry.

"Stop this!" demanded Dark.

Oni Link didn't even deign to acknowledge his presence, and just kept on inspecting jars of honey and bottles of wine.

"That's mine!" cried Dark, trying to grab the bottle, but the deity held it up beyond his reach. "You said you don't eat, so leave my stuff alone!"

"I don't eat," said the deity, walking out of the kitchen, with the jars stil in his hands. "And your rage is unnecessary. The colors of your skin and eyes are only a simple illusion. You have not been changed in the least." he took the jar of honey and threw it to the fire burning in the living room.

"What the fuck are you doing?" asked Dark. "I'm telling Link!"

"I demand sacrifices done in my name," said Oni, and poured the wine over the fire.

"You gods are _fucked up_. Look, fine, whatever," said Dark, holding Oni's arm and taking the bottle of wine away from him. "You want sacrifices? I'll sacrifice something cool for you. You want really good wine? Virgins? Virgins drinking wine? That's cool, I'll get that shit for you, but stop this skin tone bullshit ok?"

Oni huffed, then held Dark's face, and pressed their foreheads together. Dark blinked, and tried to scream, but found his limbs paralyzed.

Another blink.

Everything around him shone with white light and vanished. He stared at an expanse of white nothingness all around him.

Another blink, and Oni Link stood in front of him.

White.

White hair. White clothes. White eyes. Even the blue and red battle paint in his face had vanished from his porcelain white skin.

"You can now alter your appearance as you please," said Oni, without opening his mouth. His voice seemed to just drift into Dark's head. "I don't want any virgins. Wine and honey is good enough. Blood is good too, but I prefer to shed it myself."

Dark gasped, and looked around. His feet made a splashing sound as he stumbled backwards and fell on the wet white floor. The entire place reminded him too much of his prison at the water temple, and the memory sent a shiver through him.

"W-where am I?" asked Dark Link.

The water on the floor was cold. So cold.

"This is my temple on the moon. I have brought your consciousness here to teach you how to change your appearance," said Oni, kneeling next to him and holding Dark's hand. The shadow's hand was back to it's past dark gray color.

"I wanted something that belonged in the usual range of skin colors for hylians, but also something that wasn't the same tone as the hero's skin, so you wouldn't be uncomfortable," said Oni, and waved a hand over Dark's.

The shadow felt goosebumps down his back, and his skin turned the same tanned dark brown that the gerudo had.

"This," said the deity, touching the soft dark brown of the shadow's skin. "Looked the best with your eyes."

Dark pulled his hand back and examined his skin. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do, and he turned it back to gray. Then to a pale, almost off white.

"I can look like anything?" he wondered aloud.

"Anything that looks like the Hero of Time," said Oni Link. "As I stated, this is not changing what you are, simply the colors that others see in you."

Dark looked down and saw that he could see his reflection on the waters. He could make himself into a copy of Link. A real, perfect copy of him. He would make all the same expressions that he had memorized, and say everything he would say, the way he would say it.

Maybe, even his skin would be hot.

And he could learn how to cry.

He blinked, and saw that Oni had pulled away from him. They were back at the house, and Link stood at the door blushing furiously, while next to him Sheik tried not to giggle.

"Please tell me you two weren't kissing. Please, please tell me you weren't," begged Link, his whole face turning red. "I _cannot_ deal with me making out with other parts of myself."

Sheik snorted and looked away, still trying as hard as he could to not laugh aloud.

"I was teaching him an illusory spell," said the fierce deity, letting go of Dark's face. "He can now look like any shade and color he wants. He could even look like you, if need be."

Dark blinked, and slowly melted into a puddle of shadows on the floor.

He hid in a corner under the couch, and refused to come out all day.


	19. Chapter 19

That night, when Dark still refused to reform, Link ordered Oni to go apologize to Dark so he would stop brooding. Well, he didn't order him per se, because you didn't order around a deity that was knowing for his destructive and warring nature. Link actually told him that as long as Dark kept throwing a fit, he would be very miserable, and he would make sure that his misery would seep over to Oni's mental space. And also he would nag. He would nag at him so much.

The deity stalked out of the house to look for the shadow, who had slipped out of the house to brood on his own.

"I dont understand your emotions," said Oni, looking up at a tree. Any mortal would have seen nothing more than the shifting shadows of the leaves, but Oni Link saw him as clear as he could see the original Link.

"Of course you don't. You're not a real person," said Dark reforming to sit on one of the branches. He wanted the smug pleasure of glaring down at the deity.

"Neither are you," said Oni.

Dark grit his teeth.

"I'm more of a person than you. I'm the shadow of one," said Dark, jumping down from the branch. "You don't even know what people are."

"You are making no sense. Looking like something doesn't _make you_ something. I merely made you look more like a person. There was no other change in you."

"Yes! You just made me look like something I never will be! And guess what? I don't need my own skin reminding me of that!"

Oni frowned. "You want to be a mortal?"

"Tsk, as if," muttered Dark, looking away from Oni's white gaze. He felt like the deity could stare through him even easier than Link could. At least with Link, he could block their shared thoughts.

"You want to be the Hero," realized Oni.

"I don't _want to_ ," cried Dark, stomping his feet. "I was made to be him. The whole point of my existence is being him. That was the whole plan, but Ganondorf fucked up. He should have used his entire shadow!"

Silence fell between them for a moment, and then Oni lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Is that why you stole the rest of it?" he asked.

"Ganondorf is an idiot," mumbled Dark.

"You consumed the rest of his shadow, and it didn't make you any different. How could it change you? You are still a shadow," kept saying Oni.

"I know! I'm so sick of you pointing it out," said Dark, pushing his bangs away from his face with a trembling hand. He accidentally dropped his black cap, and bent over to retrieve it with a muttered curse. "I'm sick of you messing everything with Link," said Dark, fiddling to push his long hair back into the cap, and wondering how he was going to explain it all to Link. He knew that no matter how charming he was, _'sorry I ate your shadow, I thought it would make me real'_ wasn't going to cut it this time.

"You are already real," said Oni, tilting his head in confusion.

"Stay out of my head!" yelled Dark.

"Stop behaving like a child, you know I can't," said the deity. He found the entire discussion so ridiculous, he was almost entertained by the shadow. "And I didn't tell him about the shadow. I merely…pointed out that he couldn't be expected to notice everything."

"You _covered me?_ " asked Dark, his bright red eyes getting very big. He could barely fathom the thought of the deity doing something so petty for him.

"I did no such thing. But telling him the truth would have only sowed discord between you two, and that would make our group weaker. The most logical option was to not mention anything about it. For now, at least."

"Uhmm, thanks, I guess. I mean I was going to tell him…later," said Dark, still fiddling with his hair.

Oni snatched the cap away from Dark. "This is ridiculous. You hate this cap," he said. "Let's go back. I'm tired of feeling the hero's worry on the back of my mind. Worry has got to be the most annoying and useless of all mortal emotions."

"Wha- Hey, give that back!" said Dark, running behind him to catch up with his long strides.

As he tried to reach him, he didn't notice how the deity's lips curled up in the first smile he had ever had. It had washed over him, a combination of amusement and confusion at the way all these beings behaved, torn by their illogical emotions.


	20. Chapter 20

Sheik sighed when he saw Link look out the door for the third time.

"They will be fine," he told Link, putting a hand to his shoulder. "I can't believe I just said that about a shadow and a warring god, but I'm pretty sure they will be alright."

Link gave him a nervous smile. "I know I'm overworrying, but Dark closed off our mental bond, and it makes me antsy."

"Don't you like it better? Being alone in your own mind?" asked Sheik.

Link lowered his eyes and closed the door. "I don't like being alone," he said. "Although…I don't really like being around people either. I guess I'm a little weird."

"Of course not. You're fine," said Sheik. "It's hard to get back into civilian life after the war. Especially for you, who carried the burden of everyone's fate."

Link blushed. "That…uhm…you also-"

"We all fulfilled our duties," said Sheik "You more than anyone. It's fine if you don't want to be around people. You don't need a reason to justify yourself."

"Thank you," said Link in a whisper. "I mean, I wish I could. I stayed at castle town for a while. Then I stayed at the castle for a few days, but…It seemed like people expected me to be wise. Even the people who don't remember the war expected me to be someone amazing, just because the sages and Zelda paid me so much attention. But…I don't know how to be wise. I'm just me, and that isn't much. Just some guy who can fight. There isn't much wisdom in constant fighting. There is only battle, and fear, and pain."

Sheik stepped forward, wanting to say something. Wanting to tell him that he was much more than a battle machine. But he stopped short, because he remembered that he had been the first to demand that he get up and fight after losing seven years of his life. After seeing the eyes of a child in the body of an adult, and ordering him to go and fight his war.

The door opened, and Oni entered, carrying Dark with his left arm.

"I brought him back. He is not angry anymore," said the deity.

Dark glared up at Link and Sheik. "On the contrary I am very angry," said the shadow

"He lies," said Oni, dropping Dark to the floor. "I picked him up because his short legs made him too slow."

"You're so annoying. Has anyone ever told you that?" said Dark, snatching his cap back from Oni's hand.

"They have, but I crushed them in battle."

Link stepped between them. "Well, I'm happy we're all back together and in one piece. But not like, together _together_ as in you all being inside me, although that would be nice too-"

Sheik put his hand over Link's mouth to silence him. "That's enough, I think you should rest," he said.

Dark snorted and patted Link on the back. "You're so innocent, you're adorable!"

Link stared from one to the other, and pulled Sheik's hand off his mouth. "What? What did I say?" he asked.


	21. Chapter 21

Sheik slept in Link's room because Link was the best of hosts, and refused to let Sheik sleep in the old tiny mattress in front of the couch, which he had prepared for himself.

Oni didn't sleep, claiming that sleep was a mortal annoyance that didn't interest him, and said he would spend the night talking to the stars on the roof. Because apparently stars were very chatty with divine beings, a thing that Dark didn't understand at all.

Dark slept on the rug in front of the fireplace.

"We both can fit in here," said Link from his place on the mattress. He patted the space next to him.

"Nah, I'm fine," said Dark.

"Don't you at least want a pillow? A blanket?"

Dark shook his head, and scooted closer to Link, still staying off the mattress. "I don't feel the cold," he lied. "And too much heat is annoying."

"Hmmm, I had forgotten how you're always cold," said Link, touching Dark's hand. "How does my hand feel?"

 _'_ _Perfect. You feel like perfection'_ thought Dark, but instead he said: "Hot. Like a shield left under the sun."

And that wasn't a lie, but it felt just the same to Dark.

"Was it really so bad to have your appearance changed?" asked Link, not letting go of Dark's hand.

"The jerk didn't even ask me," grumbled Dark, sneaking his fingers away from Link's hot hand. It brought back too many memories. All of them bad. "Just went ahead and bashed me. Poof, now you look like a gerudo. Hell, he might as well have made my hair red while he was at it."

Link smiled, but his eyes turned sadder, and he scooted closer to Dark. "You didn't look like a gerudo. I though you looked nice."

"Nice as in not-a-creature-of-evil or nice as in a hotter version of you?" asked Dark with a flirtatious wink.

"Jerk. Nice as in, if I had a brother, he would look like you."

The dark core inside Dark's chest that sometimes acted as a heart (and sometimes didn't bother to even try) made a harsh, painful jump.

"W-what?" muttered Dark, looking down at the fraying edge of the covers on the mattress.

"Seriously," laughed Link. "I sometimes used to wonder how my parents looked like, or how my siblings would look like. Maybe they were both blonde, or maybe not, maybe one of them was dark haired and tanned…"

"No, that's…I mean, if I was your brother, I dunno…I would look more like this," said Dark, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his skin was a milky white, and his hair fell in golden locks around his face. The red of his eyes had shifted to a deep dark blue. "Now we can play to being twins. Let's prank Sheik!"

Link frowned. "That doesn't look like you," he said.

"That's the whole point," said Dark, rolling his eyes at Link.

"No, I meant that on you it looks fake. The skin, the hair…when you talk, it all looks fake and wrong somehow."

"Don't like sharing your good looks?" asked Dark.

"Try the colors that Oni gave you," begged Link.

Dark whined. "Oni is a huuuuge asshole," he complained, but changed his skin anyway, letting it darken to the golden brown he had, and his hair turned a deep, absolute black.

"Yeah, you look nice like that," said Link, passing a hand through Dark's hair.

"Stop saying nice, that doesn't tell me shit. Do I look hot and mysterious like Sheik? Or hot and cute like you?"

It was Link's turn to roll his eyes at Dark. "You look like yourself. The way you would look like if you…"

Dark gritted his teeth. "If I was a person?" he asked.

Link held Dark's hand. "I know it upsets you. We'll figure something out. Soon."

The heat from Link's body, the closeness, the mattress; it was all too uncomfortable for Dark, and he jerked his hand back. He felt stupid even as he pushed himself away from Link. What kind of idiot got uncomfortable by a bed? By the touch of a warm hand? He did, of course, because he was an idiot. He was sure he had to be, when he made such a fuss about such nonsense.

"Yeah, sure. We should tell Oni to ask the stars if they can grant me a wish. Make me a real boy, with my own real body and a mind of my own," said Dark, hiding in his familiar cutting sarcasm. His skin grayed and his eyes went from carmine to bright blood red.

"He could do that. You don't know what a deity can do. If the goddesses created Hyrule, he could give you a body," said Link.

"Maybe, if he wasn't such a huge asshole. But he is, so he just dangles the pretense of being a person right in front of my eyes, showing me what I could be, but I'm not."

"Is that what bothered you? That you're not a person yet?"

Dark glared at him. "Link, I can never be a person. I'm a shadow. If I was a person I would be _you._ Feel like giving up your body for me?"

Link sighed. "Do you think that's possible?"

"I think you need to listen to Sheik and go the fuck to sleep," said Dark, throwing his black cap to Link's face. But he missed and it ended up in a corner.

"I sometimes thought about it during the war," said Link, lying on his back and looking up at the ceiling. "I thought, well…I'm just me, not really a hero. If the goddesses wanted a hero, they should have put one in my body, not just left little old me in here. When things got really bad… when I was bleeding and lost and alone… I would pray for the goddesses to bring one of the heroes of legends into my body so he could take over me and save everybody. That was very cowardly, I know. But I was very afraid."

Dark got closer, despite the heat, and the feel of the covers next to him. "I know," he said. "You're still the stuff of legends, you know? Legends always skip over the ugly bits, but I know."


	22. Chapter 22

When Dark woke up, Link was already awake, and getting breakfast ready in the kitchen. Dark rolled over on the floor, away from the mattress next to him so he stared at the cold heart. He noticed that his skin was still the same tanned color as the night before, and wondered if he had changed it during the night.

"You did," said Oni, coming down the stairs.

Dark growled and changed his skin back to it's usual gray. "I never realized how annoying I was being when I did that whole _listening to other’s thoughts_ thing."

Oni sat down next to him. "He was right. You do look fake as a blonde," he said.

"I don't look fake as a blonde. I look like him with long hair. And I wasn't even trying to look like him. I was going for a 'cool big brother' style. See?" said Dark with a smug grin as he changed himself into the same exact colors that Link wore on his very skin. He knew every detail of them. He knew of every single gray hair hiding between the golden ones, and how he had started to get freckles from the sun after the forest temple.

He was a perfect copy in all senses. He might be cold to the touch, he might not cry, or dream, but otherwise he was a perfect copy.

"That is a lie," said Oni, frowning and lifting a hand to stop Dark's illusion. "You do dream. You dream of being him."

"I'm a shadow, that's sort of what I do," said Dark, braiding his hair and looking around for his black cap. He had thrown it somewhere the night before, but he couldn't remember where. "And has anyone told you it's rude to eavesdrop on other's conversations? If we're not talking to you, you shouldn't be listening."

Link came out of the kitchen. "No fighting. You'll wake up Sheik."

"How do I look?" asked Dark, turning back into a copy of Link.

Link narrowed his eyes. "You look like the reason I shouldn't have long hair," he said.

"Jerk," muttered Dark.

Sheik came down the stairs with silent steps, and nobody noticed him until Oni moved aside to let him through.

"Good morning," he said, and looked at Link and Dark. He blinked, and then glared at them. "It's really too early for this."

"We're twins!" chirped Dark, throwing an arm around Link's shoulders.

"You gave him too much power. Can't you make him stop?" said Sheik to the Fierce Deity, who shrugged and walked out of the house.

"He's just angry ‘cos he can't tell us apart," said Dark, letting go of Link. "I'm going to go hunt something for lunch. I can smell you made porridge, and I'm disgusted.”

Link rolled his eyes and went back to the kitchen. Sheik followed him.

"How are you feeling?" asked Sheik, leaning against the kitchen table while Link finished breakfast.

"Me? I'm fine, why do you ask?"

Sheik glared at him. "I stabbed you in the head the other day."

"Ooh, that. I'm fine, don't worry. I had completely forgotten about that," he said, setting two plates at the table and motioning for Sheik to sit with him. "Haven't you ever used a red potion? They cure you completely."

"I have used them,” said Sheik, grabbing his spoon. “I know they cure you completely. But…I mean, the pain lingers…”

Link gave him a confused look. “So? It’s just pain. Goddesses Sheik, I can’t remember the last time I lived without something hurting here or there. Don’t worry about that,” he said.

“But I stabbed you. The pain from that-“

Link laughed. “Sheik please, I used to get stabbed all the time,” he said, with the first careless smile Sheik had ever seen on him. “What did you think I did at the temples? Admire the architecture? No, I got stabbed. It really is no problem.”

Sheik stared at him, the reality of it all dawning on him. Of course, he knew at an intellectual level that he was sending Link out to fight monsters. He wasn’t stupid. But he had never stopped to think of the fact that Link was mentally ten years old when he emerged from the temple. He had never thought of how Link would deal with the idea of fighting hordes of monsters, trapped and alone.

And he had dealt with it in the most perfect way possible: By thinking it was normal. Link got stabbed, barely survived through emergency magical means, and he thought it was all very fine and dandy and didn’t want to hurt Sheik’s feelings.

Sheik felt something cold curling at the back of his throat, suffocating him. It took him no time to recognize his old friend guilt.

“Sheik? Are you ok?” asked Link. “You haven’t been yourself lately.”

_What would you know of that? You saw me a handful of times during the war. You thought I didn’t even exist._

“I’m just…a little out of sorts. The idea that the war is over hasn’t sink in completely,” said Sheik, swallowing his guilt and his resentment at the same time.

"You'll get used to it soon," said Link. "Hmmm, when we get to the castle and after we clear up everything with Zelda, I can show you around the realm. There are many things that are different now."

Sheik nodded. "I'd like some explanations first. Although...maybe...do you think I could see Impa first?"

"Impa? Well she's a sage now and I usually contact them through Zelda. Like, when I want to speak to Saria or Ruto, and even then they can't see me sometimes," said Link.

"She will want to see me," said Sheik.

"I'm sure all the sages will want to see you," said Link with a slight shrug.

Sheik lowered his eyes. "I meant, she'll want to see me because she's my mother."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update was a little late. Sorry! It was a holiday in my country and I almost forgot! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. :D


	23. Chapter 23

Epona still came when Link called her, and it seemed like such a strange thing to Sheik. He wasn't a part of this world, but this horse had still managed to get to know Link again. He pulled his mask tighter around his face to distract himself from the fact that he was starting to be jealous of a _horse_.

"Dumb horse making me stay home," muttered Dark next to him, glaring at Epona.

"She would treat you better if you hadn't been so mean to her," said Link, petting Epona. "And I would make you stay here anyway. There are too many people who know me in Kakariko."

"I could wear the cloak!" cried Dark.

"No. Sorry Dark, but we can't risk it. I'll bring you something from the town."

"I hate you." whined Dark, falling back into a pool of shadows and slipping back into the house.

"It is so strange to see him walk around, acting like a childish, evil version of yourself," mused Sheik. "I'm surprised at the familiarity between you."

"A childish, evil version of me?" said Link, with a smile on his lips as he saddled Epona. "I guess you're right. But I've had stranger things happen to me. I met Oni on the moon. I should tell you all about that later. Now, we should focus on dealing with this. We've wasted enough time as it is."

Sheik noticed how Link's voice turned deeper, more serious than when he had spoken to his shadow. He started to sound like he did during the few times they had spoken back in the war. Even his back seemed straighter, his shoulders firmer.

"I should have thought of it," said Link, climbing on Epona. He held out a hand to Sheik so he would climb on her too, and Sheik took it. "You must have family that should have missed you. You couldn't simply be erased from this timeline without anyone noticing."

"Impa and I...we kept our relationship very private. Most people didn't even know she had a son while she was working at the castle," said Sheik, settling himself behind Link.

"Still...," said Link, but then said no more, and slipped back into his usual silence, the same way that Dark slipped into the shadows, as if merging into his element.

Sheik held on to him harder as Epona picked up speed. He found that Link had taken to wearing chainmail under his tunic, which Sheik wished he had been able to provide during the war.

Link's words came back to Sheik. _"What did you think I was doing there? I was getting stabbed."_ He could almost hear the amused tone, as if Sheik was being silly for forgetting that he had been sending Link out to battle.

Link slowed down as they emerged from the woods and took the main road. Sheik noticed why a few minutes later, when they were stopped by a patrol unit. Four guards on horseback surrounded them, and Sheik found his heart racing. Everything was back to normal and this was peacetime, but the guards were bound to ask why a Hylian and a Sheikah were travelling together. And if they asked him to remove his mask, they would have many more questions to ask.

"Don't say anything, I'll deal with them," said Link, looking around his clothes for something.

"What do we have here? Why are you two together? I've never heard of Sheikahs hitching rides," said one of them as the one who looked like their commander approached them.

Link lifted his hands. "I have a royal pass," he said, and pulled out a piece of parchment.

The commander read it. Sheik sneaked a glance at it but couldn't read anything beyond princess Zelda's royal signature and seal.

"A messenger of the royal family? Why aren't you in uniform?" asked the commander, looking pointedly at Sheik, who wished he had tucked all his hair under his mask. He felt stupid for not getting it cut at Link's house back when he had the chance.

"Princess Zelda's orders," said Link with a tone of finality.

"The pass says one Hylian named Link. It says nothing about Sheikahs."

"It says I can do as I please. If you wish, we can take this to the castle, and you may explain to the Princess why you are delaying her orders."

The commander grumbled, but gave back the pass. "Go already. Fucking kids these days," he muttered.

Sheik felt Link tensing, but he didn't say anything else, and resumed their way.

"Are there many patrols among the main road?" asked Sheik to Link's ear He felt him shiver, which made him smile in mischief.

"Too many. I usually avoid them," said Link. "I asked Zelda for the pass when I got fed up with them."

Sheik sensed that Link had more to say, but the silence slipped over him again.

They reached Kakariko shortly past midday, after being stopped two more times. They had to present the pass at the entrance of the town one last time, which Sheik could see was getting on Link's nerves.

"This is why I never go out," muttered Link under his breath, putting the pass back in his pocket. "Let's hurry. Word of me going around will reach Zelda soon, so you won't have much time with Impa before the guards tell me that I'm required at the castle."

Sheik nodded. "I won't take too long. Impa...she must have an explanation for this."

They entered the cemetery as clouds started covering the sky. Sheik kicked part of a fence that had crumbled in the middle of the path. In a corner he could see a rat scampering for cover, and the whole place stank.

"What a terrible condition," he said.

"People don't get close to the temples anymore, and when they found out that the shadow temple was here they just...stopped coming I guess. I don't know. I haven't talked to Impa in a few years. Ever since I left for Termina; and she didn't talk to me at all that time."

"How long ago was that?" asked Sheik. He stood next to Link at the entrance of the temple.

"A few years, around eight or nine," said Link, pulling out his hookshot. He pulled one of his bangs behind his ear. "Uhm, you'd better hold on to me now."

A light drizzle started falling over them. Sheik looked up to the darkening sky. The storm would be on them at any moment.

"We seem to end up in this situation more and more," said Sheik with a nonchalant tone as the stepped closer to Link and held on to him, draping his arms around Link's neck.

Link blushed furiously, looking everywhere but to Sheik. "I could teach you how to use it, and-"

"Link I was joking. It's ok," said Sheik.

"Uhm, right..."

Link didn't stop blushing, but it took him less time to aim than it did back in the Spirit Temple. The very childishness of Link's crush on him made Sheik smile sadly under his mask. The poor guy must still be confusing him with Zelda.

There was a rumble as soon as they stepped into the entrance of the Shadow Temple, and all the torches lighted at the same time.

"Hero, to what do I owe your visit?" asked Impa's voice, coming at them from all corners. Beyond the light of the torches, the shadows projected shifted and moved in eerie patterns, and Sheik felt like some of them seemed to be reaching towards them.

He stepped closer to Link.

"Mother? It's me, Sheik," he said, looking around for Impa. His Sheikah eyes could see beyond illusions, and yet all he saw were shadows all around them.

The shadows crawled towards the center of the torches, and took the form of a person the same way that Dark reformed. But this time, Sheik recognized the figure all too well.

Impa had changed. Sheik knew it even before she opened her red eyes and gave him a look of confusion.  
"Who are you?" she asked, and Sheik could see she couldn't recognize him.  
"It's me, Sheik," he said, walking up to her so she could see him fully with the light of the torches.  
"Sheik? But Sheik was her highness' disguise... During the war," she said. "is this some kind of joke?"  
A despair took hold of Sheik's heart, unlike any he had felt before. If Impa, the person who had given birth to him, couldn't recognize him… Then maybe he wasn't real after all. Then maybe he could doubt his memories and his emotions. All the love he had for his mother may very well be fake. His very existence could be doubted.  
"Mom it's me!" he cried, and the shrill of his voice almost scared him.  
Link held him by the shoulders. "Sheik-" he started, but Sheik pushed him away.  
He tore off his mask completely, letting his long golden hair fall free, and looked at Impa with both red eyes. "Mom you have to remember me, please," he begged, trying to not reach out to her in despair.

Impa recoiled from him for a moment, as if she had been struck. She stumbled backwards, but recovered her footing.

"I'm...Im very confused. How can you...? Who? I think I remember you, but how can that be...?" she said, reaching out to him.

Sheik held her hands. They felt cold and soft, with a featherlike lightness. Completely different from the rough, warm hands that had taught him to fight.

"Mom, please, try to remember...," begged Sheik, looking at her hands. There were small tendrils of darkness running across her palms and up her arms. "What is this? What happened to you?"

Impa slumped forward, her legs suddenly giving out from under her.

"Link! Help me!" called Sheik, trying to hold her up. He looked out of the circle of torches and saw Link leaning against a wall with a pained expression. "Link? Are you ok? Link!"


	24. Chapter 24

Link didn't drink much. He only got smashed once a year, on the anniversary of the battle with Ganon. So he always kept a few bottles hidden around the house, to tell himself that he wouldn't do it the next year, but being ready just in case.

Dark rummaged under the dresser until he felt cold glass on his fingertips.

"Why does he do that?" asked Oni, appearing behind Dark.

The shadow looked up at him from the floor.

"Because he loves being ridiculous when it comes to himself," he said, and strained to reach the bottle. The bottle rolled just beyond Dark's reach. "Are you doing that with your weird god magic? Stop. I'm not letting you burn this one. It's mine, you hear me?"

"I could consider sharing it if you answer my question."

"Don't think so, Mr. moon walker," grunted Dark.

Oni stepped on Dark's back. "I could also consider crushing you under my foot."

"I don't think Link would appreciate that, you know?" laughed Dark, despite the sharp terror that flared in his chest. He was still bickering with a divine being, and wasn't sure of his powers.

"He would not. But neither of you would die, so I could inconvenience him a little."

"W-what?" cried Dark, feeling Oni press his boot down harder on his back.

"As long as you both are separated, he cannot die. Nor can you. I told him the other day. Neither of you can leave this world without the other."

A silence fell between them for a couple moments, as Dark pondered this new information. And more importantly, the fact that he hadn't noticed this new bit of knowledge lying around Link's mind, which meant that he had actively kept it away from him.

Oni stepped on Dark's head. "Speak, Shadow," he ordered.

Dark yelped, holding his nose. "Stop that you asshole!" he yelled, and tried to stand up, but Oni stepped down on him again and he fell back on the floor. "What is it now?!"

"I am finding this very funny," said Oni with the same emotionless tone he had used to explain their technical immortality.

Dark rolled on his back to glare up at him. "I'm starting to see why your godly pals decided to put you in mask jail. A thousand years of mask dungeon for being a fucking jerk."

Oni lifted an elegant gray eyebrow. It was the first expression Dark had seen on him. "They did not imprison me for being what you would consider a 'jerk'," he said.

"Then why?" asked Dark.

"Because I stole the moon."

Dark opened and closed his mouth a couple time. He tried to say something, and was torn between 'Whaaaat?' and 'How the fuck did you do that?' but the words wouldn't come, so he just stared at him in awe. Because he believed him. He knew he had, because he had seen Link's memories of the battle on the moon, and he had seen the absolute whiteness of his temple.

Oni nudged him with the tip of his boot. "If you answer my question, I will tell you how I did it," he said, and Dark could sense a tone of arrogant pride in the deity's voice.

"Well, fuck me running, I think that-" started Dark, trying to get up, but Oni stepped on his chest, pushing him against the floor again.

"Silence," ordered the Deity. "It's Nayru."

"What?" whined Dark, until he felt it.

There was a bright presence outside the house, and someone knocked the door.

"Link? Can I come in?" called Princess Zelda. Dark knew her voice better than he knew his own.

"Shit no, let's stay here and pretend nobody's home," whispered Dark.

"If she comes inside and sees me, Nayru will know I'm free, and I will have to fight her. Make sure she doesn't find me."

Dark scrambled to get up. "Make sure she doesn't find you? Hell, I don't want her to find _me_ ," he cried, taking off his black tunic and picking up a green one from the dresser. He tied back his hair and tried to stuff it into a green cap. He looked all over himself, checking for more black clothing items, and noticed his gray skin.

A blink, and he was as pale as any Hylian, and his bangs shone golden just like Link's. He took a quick look at the cracked mirror near the door, and saw that he was a perfect copy of Link. This was what he had been made for.

He opened the door, and Zelda jumped up to hug him. "You're here, thank the goddesses," she said.

Her skin was burning hot, and Dark could feel her breathing, and it was all so repulsive he could barely stop himself from pushing her away.

"A-are you alright?" he asked, stepping backwards so Zelda would get the hint and let go of him.

She did let go of him with a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy you're here. You're almost never home and we need to talk," she said, stepping into the house, followed by Nabooru, who seemed to be trying her best to not giggle.

"Uhm, I'm...getting a bit sick," said Dark, looking anywhere but at them. "Can we talk later? I...I would like to rest."

"Sorry kiddo, but we have to talk now," said Nabooru, shaking her head.

"I really don't feel well," said Dark.

Zelda took off her right glove and pressed her hand to Dark's forehead. "You're freezing!"

Dark recoiled away from her. He couldn't stand the touch of her bare hand. Anger flared up in him. "I'm fine! I just...need some rest. That's all."

Zelda seemed frozen by the harshness of his words, and Dark realized that Link would never have talked to her like that.

"I'm sorry Zelda, I...I really don't feel well...," he said, trying for his best sad apologetic tone. "Maybe I should go to a healer. I was trying to avoid it..."

"Link, you're always pushing yourself too much." she said, caressing the side of his face, the same way she had done many other times. "You're too cold. We need to take you to a healer right away."

Dark focused on Link's memories of the times they had spent together. After all, Link had been in love with her, hadn't he?

No, he hadn't.

They had both been looking for someone else in each other. Zelda had looked for a strong hero of time who knew what to do in every situation, and Link had been looking for...Sheik.

Dark made a vague noise of agreement and held her hand in his own. He looked at Zelda's blue eyes and smiled, which made her smile in turn.

He was a perfect copy. Perfect. Who said he couldn't stay like this forever? Link could be free to stay with Sheik, and Dark would be free to pretend to be the hero of time and marry the princess. Link hated the idea of being a hero, but Dark loved to pretend to be things he wasn't. And he could even have the perfect pretend life like this.

There was a crackling in the air, and Dark felt a burning sensation all over him. Electricity sparked between him and Zelda, making her yelp and jump backwards. Nabooru reached out to steady her, and Dark cried out as the sparks turned to the scratching of claws over him.

Zelda screamed, and when Dark opened his eyes he realized the illusion was off, and he was back to looking like a shadow. He growled deep in his throat. He felt like he had been woken up from a dream. This was what dreaming felt. Being shown the thing you wanted the most just to open your eyes, and-

Oni came down the stairs, and Dark felt like he looked taller and more imposing than ever.

"Leave," he commanded, and his voice felt like a surge of energy through their bodies, sharp and cold, booming in their heads.

Zelda paled in terror and screamed, but Nabooru held on to her, and they both vanished in a flash of orange light.

Dark blinked a few times, his mind trying to piece together what had just happened.

"Get up, we have to go look for the Hero," said Oni, and his voice had lost the booming, electric quality it had.

"W-what?" mumbled Dark. "Wait, what the fuck happened? Why did the illusion break? I had her!"

Oni turned around to glare at him, and Dark could feel the strength of his anger as if it was a tangible thing, like a physical cold that clawed at him.

"No! She had _you_!" he yelled at him. "That was Nayru, you fool!"

"So that wasn't Zelda?"

Oni sighed. The rage faded and he went back to his usual cold neutrality. "You do not understand. Nayru was acting through Zelda. She made you believe that you could in fact become a replacement for the Hero. I broke the illusion when you started falling into her trap."

Dark felt cold. Colder than he had ever felt. Colder than when Link had almost killed him.

"So Nayru was telling me that I could replace Link? That Link could be happy with Sheik and I could be happy with Zelda?" he asked. There was something heavy in his chest. Something heavy that didn't let him breathe, and his eyes itched.

"She was lying," hissed Oni.

"But maybe she wasn't lying!" said Dark, remembering how perfect the vision had been. How, if he just tried a little, he could get used to the warmth of Zelda's hand on his. "Maybe she was offering us-"

Oni grabbed Dark's face, forcing him to look straight at the deity's white eyes. "She wasn't. She just wanted to take you away from me. She wanted you to go with her just to drive you away from me."

"That's crazy, why would she want to do that? She could have just told Zelda that I was Link's shadow. You're not making any sense, and they just found out about us both!"

Oni growled and turned away. "Get changed, we have to go find the Hero now."

Dark gritted his teeth. "No. If we're going to go, let's go right now."


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay! I've just had so much work at my full time job, and that along with my approaching exams hasn't left me much time for fic editing. I'm posting an extra chapter as an apology. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story!

Link found Oni sitting on a log near the house, so he went to sit down next to him.  
"It would have been nice if you hadn't shown yourself so... Forcefully, " he said with a sigh.  
Oni grunted as his only response, and Link sighed again.  
"How am I going to explain this to Zelda? Well, I guess that keeps our secrets even?" said Link with a slight smile. "But I'm still wondering, why would Nayru want to lure Dark by making him think he could be me? Like he said, it makes no sense."  
The deity grunted and passed a hand through his white hair. Link realized it was a gesture that the three of them seemed to share.  
"Because I found the shadow amusing, and Nayru wanted to take my toys away, the same as she has done since time immemorial."  
Link scoffed. "Toys? Is that how you see us?"  
Oni grabbed Link's left hand and pulled off his glove for them to see the glowing mark of the Triforce.  
"Do you think you are anything more than a toy for your goddesses?" he asked.  
"I like to think I am."  
"You are not," said Oni, letting go of his hand. "Because we cannot see mortals like equals. Do you see a cat as an equal? You can't. You just play with it and let it do what it wants as long as it doesn't bother you"

Link held his chin in his palm, thinking about the deity's words. "I like to think I'm more like a dog. One of those big, furry ones," he said with a smile.

Oni narrowed his eyes at him. "I see how similar the original is to the shadow," he said.

"That's mean," said Link. "The way I've come to see it, he is his own original. If I was a dog, I think he would be a cat. We're similar in theory, but not really."

"Hmmm, that comparison seems…adequate."

The wind picked up, shaking the leaves of the trees around them. The rain had stopped, but heavy storm clouds still covered the sky. Dark came back with an armful of wood for the fire.

"Having secret chats between you?" he asked, with less humor and more bitterness than usual.

"It's not a secret if you can hear everything," said Link, getting up and taking the logs from him. Then he turned back to the deity. "I don't know why I do it. The drinking thing. One day I was in some random in between Termina and Sakeer, and I realized that that was the day I had fought Ganondorf. I was seventeen then, but I still felt ten years old when I thought about the battle. It was a strange feeling, to realize that I was seventeen for a second time, and I still hadn't learned how to grow up. So I bought a bottle of wine to celebrate my nonexistent battle, by myself. It was the first time I had tried wine."

"And you got shitfaced," said Dark with a motherly sigh.

Link laughed. "I did. I also jumped on a table and threw a mug at a bard. Or so I was told the next day. I don't remember much," he said, and shrugged. "It was better than spending the night thinking about the battle, and dreaming about it, and…" he trailed off, his mind going to the nightmares and the screams. Reimagining a thousand different scenarios in which he could see every single way he could have lost. He smiled instead and kept talking. "I just kept doing it every year after that. There's nothing more there."

"That is terrible," said a voice nearby, making Link and Dark jump. They turned to see that Sheik had come out of the house without them even noticing him.

"S-Sheik! How long-?" asked Link.

"Long enough," he said. He reached out to help Link with the longs, but Link refused, and instead accompanied him back inside the house, leaving Dark and Oni alone outside.

"I swear, Sheik appears and he loses his head," said Dark, sitting down next to Oni. "Not that I can blame him. I do too, but it's so annoying when only _he_ can get close to Sheik. So unfair…"

"Are your hearts linked too?" asked Oni.

"No, of course not. I don't have one, for starters," said Dark with a smirk. "But anyway, I am your cat and Nayru wanted to get me away from you? That's…crazy. Just flat out crazy."

"You are not my cat."

"But you said we mortals were like pets-"

"When the Hero said that, I merely agreed because the comparison of him with a dog and you with a cat was adequate. I did not imply that I have taken you two as pets. We are simply stuck in a situation in which we must share parts of the same physical form. Separating from each other would only make us weaker."

"Hmp, guess you're right on that," said Dark, putting his chin on his palm. "But that's enough stalling. Now that you know about Link's reasons, you have to tell me. How did you steal the moon?"

Oni nodded, and looked up at the shinning sliver of moon still visible among the clouds.

"I call it stealing because that is how Din thinks of it to this day, but I won it in battle," he said, and Dark found himself falling into a vision like a dream that enveloped him completely.

_"_ _Before the creation of your world, we existed. As we had always existed, completely, in the black space between the burning stars. Shapeless. Needless. Complete._

_But Aware."_

The absolute darkness surrounding Dark felt like he was suffocating, and he blinked away the vision, gasping for a breath that he didn't need. Oni grabbed his hand, and pressed their foreheads together, letting the shadow anchor his body as his mind went back to the vision of the emptiness of space.

_"_ _Among us, Nayru was the first to desire. She desired to create. She desired to separate law from lawless. Order from Chaos. She separated Energy from Matter, and created a galaxy of her own._

_I saw no point in it. There were stars. Galaxies existed. Why create more? But she desired, and desire has no more reason for us than for mortals, so she created her own laws. Unlike your creation myth, where Din created the earth first, the reality is that the law was there first. How could it have been any different? Mortals are so irrational."_

Dark couldn't help laughing at his remark, but froze when he felt their lips brushing, and his fake pretense of a heart jumped so hard in his chest, it was almost painful.

Oni paid him no mind, and went on.

_"_ _Farore and Din followed her. Din's power modified matter according to the Law, and thus created a world. I did not like the world. I wanted to fight. I wanted their silly creation to stop existing and for us to return to an existence without desire._

_I knew Din enjoyed the lack of law as much as I did, so I descended onto her earth to fight her. I challenged her to fight for parts of the world the crafted, and as she desired to fight too, she accepted my challenge._

_This was not in Nayru's law."_

Dark saw Oni descend as darkness incarnate onto the barren, burning earth. Consuming, tearing it apart from the core. Din stood across from him, a towering pillar of crackling fire that roared with pure _power._ He had always imagined a warrior fighting a goddess, but what he saw with his mind eyes was two forces of nature trying to tear each other apart, crushing the earth with their very presence.

_"_ _So when I won the first round of our battles and took away a piece of the world for myself, she and Farore trapped me in the moon I tore away from their world. She changed her law to order the galaxies to move, forcing my moon to orbit her earth so it would remain under her law. There I remained for thousands of years, forced out of combat along with Din, who had been cast away to the core of the earth, just so Nayru and Farore could bring forth pathetic mortal lives._

_I despised their creation. I despised their laws. And my only desire was to fight again. Fight them all. But the law prevented me from descending formless and lifeless into a world of living forms. So I called their attention by bending the law as much as I could. I sent whispers to their creations so that they would use the powers of the world to allow me into the world. I demanded sacrifices to bind me to the world, and performed shows of lights to astound them. The more they revered me, the more I could touch their minds, and order them to fight in my name."_

Wars raged on across the centuries before Dark's eyes. Kingdom against kingdom.

"You made your followers fight the goddesses' followers?" asked Dark, forgetting all about the closeness between them. Oni didn't feel hot. Oni didn't breathe, or do any of the things that mortals did that repulsed him, and the feeling of his cool skin as their fingers entwined brought him a welcome calm.

Oni chuckled, but his answer came straight to Dark's mind.

_"_ _I made them fight themselves. Man against man, whatever shield their standards showed, I wanted them dead . They were all under the law. They all belonged to them, so as long as they suffered and died, the only winner was me._

_Farore cracked first._

_She desired her mortal toys to live on their own, without my interference, but there was nothing in the law that prevented them from listening to me. From following me to their destruction._

_So she broke the law._

_She created living vessels to contain us, and invited me in with the pretense of begging me to stop calling out to her mortals."_

And Dark could see their forms as they had been in those ancient times, perfect vessels that looked like Hylians from afar, until you saw that Farore's green hair was a mess of leaves that grew and died, being reborn over and over, with colorful tiny flowers that fell on the wind to die and be reborn again. An absolute beauty. A moving altar of life. If he could, Dark would have cried from the vision of her.

So hypnotic was her beauty that Oni had to turn the shadow's mind eye away from her.

"She was gorgeous," said Dark in a dreamy voice. He felt his body relaxing, and Oni had to hold him up.

_"_ _She wasn't. She merely created the very concept of beauty, which suited her just well. And for me she created a lesser vessel, which only added to her pettiness."_

But as Dark looked at the absolute white vessel, much like the figure he had when he had taken Dark to the moon, it didn't seem less of anything. He was greater, mightier, a savage god of war ready for battle.

If Nayru had created the very concept of beauty, then Oni might as well have created the concept of power.

_"_ _But of course, just like me, Nayru would never accept any agreement. She would not have her law trampled by anyone. Much less Farore. She inhabited a human vessel to descend into the world, and along with Farore, they imprisoned me within the vessel she had created."_

Oni said it so calmly, so matter of factly, that when the images of the battle appeared before Dark's eyes, he could barely believe him.

Nayru had descended from the sky between them with thundering rage that split apart the sky, and attacked Oni right away. A swat of her hand, and half a mountain was gone. There were Farore's desperate cries in all the voices of her creations. And she _had_ tried to stop Nayru, but the destruction ravaged the earth so fast as she and Oni fought, that Farore quickly shifted sides, and surrounded Oni with her power. It took less than a second for Nayru to strike, and Oni's vessel crumbled.

Oni let go of Dark, and the vision ended. He blinked and found himself back in the woods behind Kakariko. He tried to pull the deity closer, pressing their foreheads back together, but the vision would not come back.

"Wait! Wait! What happened?" asked Dark.

"I told you, they imprisoned me in the mask, which is the only thing that was left of my vessel. Then they sent the mask back to the moon," said Oni, with a completely deadpan tone.

"Ugh, you suck at telling stories," growled Dark, and realized that he was clinging and all but sitting on Oni's lap. He jumped up. "Woah, woah, sorry uhmm about that."

He felt a prickling over his skin, and looked out to the dark forest around them.

"Don't mind that," said Oni, frowning.

"I totally didn't even notice. What with you not having any body heat or anything," said Dark, but he was babbling away mindlessly. His attention was on the darkness around them. It seemed important. It made him feel like he should put all of his attention on it.

"I told you," said Oni, standing up. "Don't mind her."

But Dark wasn't listening. The darkness was calling. It called out to him, to the center of his being.

Oni made an exhasperated sound, and hit him over the head so hard, Dark passed out.

"Go away. Your son is waiting for you inside," said Oni, picking up Dark's unconcious body. "And don't try to do this again."


	26. Chapter 26

"I'm sorry that you still feel that way," said Sheik, closing the door behind them. "Have you talked to anyone about that?"

Link left the logs next to the burning heart.

"Sheik, I'm fine. It's nothing to talk about," he said.

"It IS something to talk about. You haven't gotten past the battle with Ganondorf, and pushing all your emotions to one day isn't healthy."

"Maybe, but it's not like my life as a whole is healthy," said Link, almost smiling. "It's really nothing Sheik, please don't worry. You always worry too much about me."

He patted Sheik's shoulder, and Sheik noticed that he was taller than he had been during the war.

_'Of course I worried about you. You were our only hope. If you died, we were all dead. I had to cling to a ten year old in an overgrown body as our only hope for salvation."_

Sheik punched him lightly in the chest. "You sometimes test my patience, hero," he said, and turned his back on him.

"What? I haven't done anything. You're even more of a worrywart than before," said Link. "Can't we think of it as a celebration?"

"It doesn't matter what I think of it. I can't remember any of it," said Sheik, sitting down at the table. He was getting angrier and angrier, but he didn't want to take it out on Link.

Link sat down in front of him and started serving a couple cups of tea. His expression back to the expressionless one he wore after the forest temple. "You most likely were not there," he said, not looking up from the task of serving.

"So I was trapped in the shield during the battle? What do you know?" asked Sheik, suddenly suspicious of Link's knowledge.

Link shrugged. "I don't know anything. But if you think about it, that seems like the most logical turn of events," he said, holding his cup with both hands. "You say you left after teaching me the song of Spirit, and your memory stops right after going back to report to Zelda. She had to have been the one who knocked you out. It took me a while to complete the spirit temple, but she needed Nabooru to set down the shield I found, so there is something she had to do during that period of time, trusting that she could created the shield with Rauru and Nabooru's help. after I had completed the temple."

"But how could she have known that Nabooru was the sage of spirit when you had yet to purify the temple?" asked Sheik

"She knew because I had to complete it as a child and as an adult. I went back to the temple of time and returned seven years to complete the temple as a child. That was when I met Nabooru, and Zelda must have known of he rebelion during the war. Considering my progress, she must have known that I would be done in enough time for her to complete whatever she had to do, and then when I came back to the temple of time she posed as you. I think, she wanted to use the power of the triforce and the ocarina of time, to resettle the timelines to erase Ganondorf from existence. She must have needed you for it for some reason. The very energy of the shield seemed to resonate against the reality around it, so I figured very quickly that the shield must have been set in place before the timelines changed."

"Changed timelines? Erase Ganondorf from existence? I have no idea what you are talking about. Didn't you defeat Ganondorf during the battle? What... what 'timeline' is the one we're living in then?" asked Sheik, his anxiety skyrocketing.

Link took a moment before explaining. "In the timeline we are currently experiencing Zelda banished Ganondorf to the dark realm, and brought us back to the past. But not the original past. A past where neither Ganondorf nor you ever existed," he said. "And no, I didn't defeat Ganondorf. It was impossible for me, you see, he had a part of a triforce."

"B-but you are the hero of time. The prophecy said that-"

Link cut him off. "The prophecy said I would be able to travel through time and wield the master sword, which I do. But every part of the triforce has the same power divided into different skills. Even if the triforce of courage gave me the same power as the triforce of _power_ gave Ganondorf, neither would have been able to defeat the other, and we would have been stuck at a perfect standoff forever," said Link and took a sip of his tea. "Zelda must have known it then, if it was so evident even for me. My power was only good enough to keep him down for long enough so she was able to banish him."

They sat in silence, with only the sounds of the burning heart between them. Link unwilling to look up from the table and meet Sheik's gaze.

"So he was never defeated," finally said Sheik. "You should have told me all of this earlier."

"I had been looking for a better moment to tell you. I didn't know if it would be better to speak with Zelda first, to know her reasons for-"

"Her reasons for what, Link?!" yelled Sheik, standing up. "For erasing me from existence?! For making sure not even my mother would remember me?!"

Link glared up at him, but seemed unmoved. "Yes. Sheik, I know this is very hard for you," he said in a calming voice, getting up with open arms.

"Very hard for me? Are you even listening to yourself? You knew it was Zelda and the sages who had put me there! How do I know you're not lying now? How do I know you didn't work with Zelda to put me there?" asked Sheik, shifting to a defensive pose. He felt suddenly exposed without his mask, but the feeling of his daggers under his gloves grounded him.

Link's face of neutrality vanished, and he looked as if he had been struck. "Sheik, I would never-"

"You have lied to me all this time!"

"I didn't lie! I just wanted to give you more time to feel more like yourself, so it wouldn't be as hard on you. I wish _I_ had had time to get adjusted. We all made sacrifices, and I know it's hard. Please calm down, we will get to the bottom of this, but I'm not the enemy here Sheik," said Link, approaching him slowly. When Sheik didn't move he set his hand on his shoulders. "If I had known you were real...I'm sorry, for being so easily deceived."

Sheik relaxed a little. "It's ok. It's not like we were very close in the first place," said Sheik, letting his head fall against Link's chest. He felt cheated out of growing too.

"You were a bit mean to me too," said Link, laughing.

"I had to be. You were our only hope, and I had to make sure you succeeded," said Sheik. "Although your childish crush made everything a bit awkward."

Link froze for a second, and then pushed Sheik away from him. When Sheik looked up he saw he was completely red.

"I-I didn't-" he stuttered.

"Link, it's ok. You thought I was a woman, it doesn't matter."

"I didn't think you-!" started Link, but he stopped himself and stepped away from Sheik, covering his mouth. It was the only childish gesture that Sheik had seen on him since waking.

"Wait, you didn't think I was a woman? Despite my long hair?"

"I...I did, yeah, I did think you were a woman," said Link, looking at the floor and backing away from Sheik, but he was so obviously lying, it was almost laughable.

"No, you didn't," said Sheik, approaching him just as Link backed himself into a wall. "I thought it had been so easy to trick you because I had told Zelda that you thought I was a woman, but you knew all the time. You knew."

Link felt the wall against his back yet tried to get farther away from Sheik.

"I...I'm s-sorry," said Link. "I didn't know it was wrong back then. I-If it bothers you-"

"Link, it's not wrong," said Sheik, but Link still wouldn't look at him, so Link grabbed his face, forcing him to look at him. "Link, whatever happens, I want you to know that it's not wrong."

Link took a deep breath. "Can we please stop talking about my feelings? We didn't cover this in hero school," said Link, with a nervous smile.

"Hmph, so you really are not that different from your shadow," said Sheik, poking Link's cheek.

"They cannot be different at all," said Impa, from the entrance to the room where she had been. Sheik almost jumped away from Link, who in turn tried to back away, and hit his head against the wall.

He cried out and stumbled, holding his head.

Impa chuckled at the sight of them. Sheik looked her up and down, noticing that there was something different to her. She seemed more herself in a way that Sheik couldn't put into words.

"Mother?" he asked, hating the way his voice trembled.  
Impa extended her arms to him, and the recognition shone in her eyes. Sheik ran to hug her, unable to form words. He wanted to tell her he loved her, he missed her, that he had thought he had lost her forever, but he could only cry against her shoulder.


	27. Chapter 27

Link sneaked out of the house to give them some privacy, and found Dark asleep in Oni's lap.

"I think I missed something important," said Link, sitting down next to Oni. He looked at the shadow's sleeping face, but the thing that drew his attention the most was the silence he felt from their shared mindspace. He frowned."He's out cold, what happened to him?"

"The shadow sage tried to control him. I sent her away. I believe she intended to gain access to your memories through your shadow. I thought it was a rude intrusion," said Oni, without taking his eyes off the sky.

Link felt that he was glaring at it, despite the lack of any expression in his face.

"Impa? Hmph, weird. Wasn't she in the house? I just left her with Sheik," said Link.

Oni finally looked away from the sky to stare at Link. "She is everywhere that shadows are. Here, and in the house where you saw her physical projection. Are you aware that the sages are dead? You seem to not be aware of that."

"Whaaat?!"

Oni narrowed his eyes at him. "You also don't seem to be aware of _that_ ," he said, pointing to the sky.

Link looked up, but couldn't see anything other than thick dark clouds. "What do you mean?" he asked, his anxiety rising.

Oni took his hand, entwined their fingers together, and Link felt something like a current of cold water going through him. He looked up, and saw a black gash opening in the sky.


	28. Chapter 28

"Is there _anything_ else I should be aware of?" asked Link, entering the house and adjusting his gloves.

At the table, Sheik and Impa startled, but he paid them no mind as he picked up his backpack, sword and shield.

Oni shrugged. "I am aware of everything. I know of every beating heart of every person in this village. You will have to be more specific," he said, entering the house after him while carrying Dark in his arms, who started to stir back to consciousness.

Link rubbed at his eyes. "For being a god, you sure are dense."

"He's a god?" asked Impa.

"Whut happen'd?" mumbled Dark. Oni set him down on a chair.

Sheik whispered to Impa that he would explain later, and stood up. "Link? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I need to go see Zelda right now. I'm taking Dark with me, but I need you to stay here with Impa and Oni."

"We're going where?" asked Dark, trying to stand up and failing. He almost tripped on his own two feet, but Oni held him up.

"Link what happened? You're worrying me," said Sheik, standing in front of Link.

"I don't know what happened," said Link, trying to appear calm, and failing. "But there is a huge crack in the sky. You can't see it, but trust me, it's there."

"The _sky?_ " asked Sheik, rushing out to look at it, but found only clouds.

"It will be visible to mortal eyes by dawn," said Oni with perfect calm.

" _That_ is exactly the kind of stuff I want to be aware of," said Link, throwing his arms in the air. "Feel free to send any more useful information straight to my brain while I'm gone. And I trust you will keep Sheik and Impa safe if anyone, especially any other sages, come to look for them. Dark, let's go."

"Separating would weaken us," warned Oni, but made no move to follow him, and Link knew he would stay and do as he had asked.

"We can't separate. We share the same mind," said Link, looking back as he left. Dark trailed in after him with wobbly steps, as if in a daze.

Sheik ran after them. "I'll go with you. I need to see Zelda too," he said.

"No, not right now. I can't afford to…Look Sheik, I have a rough idea of what happened, but without knowing the full story, I don't want you near Zelda or near any of the other sages. Much less for you to be in a place where we can be ambushed," said Link.

"Do you think they might try to…attack us?" asked Sheik.

"Do I believe they would try to attack us out of the blue and take you back to the shield? No. Not at all. But it _is_ a possibility, and with the uncertainty of everything, and... _that,_ " he said, waving at the sky. "I don't want to take any chances where you might be in danger."

"Hero, you _do_ remember that I am not really princess Zelda waiting for you save me?" said Sheik, lifting an eyebrow at him.

Link laughed. "No, you made that really clear."

"I can defend myself."

"Can't we just blame my childhood crush for my desire to protect you?"

"We could, but that would be very stupid."

"He wants you to have time with your mom," said Dark, rubbing at his eyes. "You know, in case the sky breaks apart and the world is suddenly destroyed."

"That too. It's a mix of a lot of reasons," said Link with a deep sigh. "I didn't want to say that one reason, though. Still, please stay here Sheik. There is a lot I need to talk with Zelda, and I would prefer to have this talk alone."

Dark coughed.

"Alone with my evil shadow twin," amended Link, with a roll of his eyes.

"I too, would advice that the sheikah stay here," said Oni link, who was suddenly there, even though a moment ago he hadn't been. Only Sheik startled at that.

"Well, you heard the god. You stay here. A kiss for good luck?" said Dark, winking at Sheik.

"I will transport you both to the castle now," said Oni, lifting his hands at them.

Link and Dark made identical expressions of terror.

And then they were conveniently not there.

"You could have warned them beforehand," said Sheik, looking up at Oni.

"I could have" said Oni, shrugging.

Sheik sighed, and walked uphill back to the house. Oni followed him in silence.

"Was it true? That he wanted me to have more time with my mother?" asked Sheik, unwilling to look at the deity.

"It was. He felt guilty for not asking about your family right away, and he tried to make up for that. The existance of your family was not immediately obvious to him, as he has none, and the idea that others do have one is foreign to him," explained Oni.

"I see. He…mentioned it once."

"I know he did," said Oni, and stopped as if listening for something. Then he looked down at Sheik. "He just remembered the possibility that you have a father too, and says that if I can, I should take you to see him."

Sheik shook his head. "Tell him I'm fine. I don't know who my father is anyway," he said, and then realized what he had said. "I mean, don't tell him I don't know who my father is! Just tell him I'm fine, and I…I appreciate his concern."

"I highly doubt he would judge the sage of shadow for such a thing, but I will keep that information sealed away from him if that is what you wish," said Oni.

Sheik pursed his lips and pulled his golden hair back away from his face. "I realize it might not be apparent to him because he doesn't know much about the Sheikah, but my father was a hylian and that's…not supposed to happen. Sheikahs don't mix with Hylians. And I don't judge my mother, of course. Love is love regardless of anything else. But so many people have judged her throughout the years…Have judged _me_ throughout the years… I could not bear for Link of all people to suddenly be aware of this."

"That separation is not against the Law," said Oni.

"Oh, no it's not. I mean, it's not illegal, of course. But people don't look at it too well. I suppose it's a bit like Link's feelings for me," said Sheik, waving at Impa, who waited for them back at the entrance to the house.

"Link's feelings for you? Do you mean that he loves you despite being a man? That is also not against the Law."

Sheik's face turned red. "You don't have to be so blunt. And no, that's not illegal either. Late King Lodell, Princess Zelda's grandfather made it legal I believe. But you don't see men like that going around kissing in plain view."

"I do not understand your needless human worries," said the deity.

"He went to see the princess alone?" asked Impa. The black cracks were all over her arms and neck now. Sheik forced himself to appear calm despite the way his stomach twisted with worry when he saw her.

"Sort of," said Sheik. "I guess you could say he was alone in a way. Alone with himself."

Impa smiled.


	29. Chapter 29

Zelda had refused to lay down after Nabooru transported her back to the castle. She was too on edge to lay down.

Link was gone.

Link had been replaced by a shadow being.

And Ganondorf was crashing his way closer with every minute that passed.

"Zelda, please," whispered Nabooru, pressing a hand to her shoulder.

Zelda jerked away from her. "Has nobody found Sheik? He couldn't have disappeared. I had patrols all over the kingdom, and they can´t find a blonde Sheikah?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes. She refused to accept the fact that she was seeing her kingdom fall apart before her eyes. And after she had used all her power to seal away Ganondorf. After Link had sacrificed years of his life. After Zelda had sealed away Sheik herself. After she had erased him from existence. After she had sacrificed everything. Even that which she had no right to sacrifice.

"If Link is gone, I think we can safely pinpoint to Ganondorf as the cause for all of this," said Nabooru.

"Ganondorf might as well have sent his minions to break the seal and kidnap Sheik," said Saria

"Kidnapping is such a loaded word," said a sarcastic voice from behind the throne, and Link's shadow stepped through one of the hidden emergency passages.

"I told you to stay back," said Link, jogging in after him. He gave Zelda an apologetic look. "Sorry, I had to sneak in."

Zelda stepped back, and Saria and Nabooru stood between her and the two Links.

"What is this? Who are you?" asked Zelda.

Link sighed and lifted his hands in a pacifying motion. "Don't attack, please. It's me. For real this time," he said. When none of the sages moved, he took off his left glove to show the glow of the triforce of courage. "See? Now, can we all calm down?"

Zelda gritted her teeth. That was one of the things she hated about him. Ganondorf was about to crush the barrier of the dark world, the timelines were about to crash into one another, Link's evil shadow had tried to attack her; and here he was, wanting everybody to calm down and chat.

"What is that thing Link?" she asked, fighting to keep all her patience about her.

Link lifted an eyebrow at that. " _That_ is me, Zelda," he said, pointing to the shadow.

That didn't sound like him. What if he was another shadow? What if there were many copies of him around? What if Ganondorf's darkness had already infiltrated the world?

"Why don't we all stop talking about me?" said the shadow. "And instead talk about how Ganondorf, the crack in the sky, and Sheik suddenly being an actual person that exists, are all related things."

"A crack in the-," started Zelda, but stopped herself and ran to the window. The sun was coming up, and the clear light shining over the castle showed cracks all over the clear blue sky, as if a glass barrier over the world could start falling apart all over them at any moment. "No. No, no, no…"

"It was me," said Link. "The one who got Sheik out of the shield. I was at the temple for…something else, and when I saw him, I thought it was you. I thought you had been attacked by something. So I set him free, and he's been with me during these days. Well, with me and Dark here, who is my shadow. It's a long story, but don't worry about him for now."

"Of course. No one else could have done it," said Zelda, feeling suddenly very tired. "And I don't suppose it was your shadow's idea to go to the temple for whatever you needed to do?"

"It was not, Zelda. I did it all on my own. He has been with me for a long while," said Link.

"How long?"

"Not nearly as long as you've lied to me about Sheik."

"I had to!" yelled Zelda, at her wits end. "I had to do something to seal Ganondorf away! Link, you knew we couldn't win against him! It was the only way."

"But you didn't have to lie to me. Zelda, now I can't trust you!"

Zelda laughed. "You can't trust me? After you open the way for Ganondorf. After you show up saying that you have kept a shadow with you for who knows how long? After you caused that, and have put all of us in danger?" she asked, pointing at the crack in the sky. "Link, I know you loved Sheik. I did so too. He was my strength for all the years when you were gone. But the world is not only us. The world is all those people that died during Ganondorf's rule. All those people who now have another chance at life. I had to use him to create the trap that would seal Ganondorf, and I would do it again."

Link lowered his eyes. "I understand Zelda. I really do, but…It still feels like betrayal."

Zelda pointed up at the sky. "That is the alternative Link. The world crashing down, the events of the first timeline crashing with the events of this one, and all the people who died during Ganondorf's reign dying again. I've hurt you. I've hurt Sheik, and I will never be forgiven for that, but…" she said, tears falling down her cheeks. "Link I need to know where Sheik is. We need to rebuild the shield, and we need to do it now."

Link clenched his fists, and refused to meet Zelda's stare. "No," he said.

"What?! What do you mean no? Don't you understand the danger we are in?" cried Zelda.

"I know, and I understand it. But I can't. I can't tell you were he is. I can't let you do this again," said Link, turning his back on her. "I will fix this."

"Link you can't fix this alone! You're being unreasonable," said Saria, standing in front of Link. "I hated that Zelda had to do that, and I hate that we have to do this to Sheik, but you can't let your love for him blind you to the fact that if the timelines connect, we won't be able to stop the chaos that will unfold."

"Saria, I can't…I really can't," said Link.

"Link, please don't make me go and get him myself. Because I will," warned Zelda.

Link shook his head. "Zelda, please don't. If you do…Zelda, please trust me. If you go and try to get him, I will have to fight you. There must be another way to fix this, and I'm going to find it."

"Link, please understand that there is no other way," said Zelda, stepping forward. "The shield has to be sustained by royal blood. But because I need to be the one to create it, I can't also be the one to sustain it. It is physically impossible. I've tried it countless times. I would sacrifice myself before I sacrifice anyone else, but I can't now!"

Link raised his eyebrows. "Royal…blood. Then Sheik is…but Impa is his mother. He told me himself," he said.

Zelda shrugged, and avoided his gaze. "It's…a long story. I see you didn't ask for his father. But either way…I don't want to talk about it. Whatever happens, we will need Sheik."

Link nodded. "I see. But please Zelda, trust me."

"Link, there is nothing to trust. There are no options here," said Zelda, lifting a hand at him.

A pale purple glass case covered him and Dark.

"What the hell is this?!" cried Dark. He banged on the glass, but it burned his hands.

"Zelda stop!" yelled Link.

"Link, I don't want to fight you, but I also have to stop this chaos. My people need to be protected. I'm sorry. I know you will never be able to forgive me," said Zelda.

"This is ridiculous. Let's get out of here!" yelled Dark, and held on to Link. His form enveloped Link completely in shadows, and a moment later, they both disappeared within the shield.


	30. Chapter 30

Link felt cold.

An absolute cold that seeped to his bones, constricting him, choking him. There was no air, no heat. Just complete, drowning darkness that whispered all around him.

He blinked, and fell back to the world. He breathed deep, coughing.

"Sorry about that. Zelda's shield thing was too painful," said Dark, reforming next to Link. "And I figured this was the fastest way to get the hell out of there."

Link pushed himself up from the grassy ground. He looked around, and saw they were around the middle of the way between Castle Town and Kakariko.

"Why-?" he started.

"I know, I should have brought you straight to Kakariko, but you were dying there and I had to pull you out of the shadows here. Any more time in there and you would have died," said Dark, standing up too. "Who knew air was so important?"

Link passed a hand through his hair. "Yes, that…Air is important," he said, and looked around his clothes for his ocarina. "We need to get back to Kakariko now. I'm calling Epona."

"Hey, calm down. She won't be able to take Sheik away from Oni. The guy's a god! He's the actual unmovable object," said Dark.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Uh?"

"Because Zelda is the unstoppable force, and if she wants to get to Sheik, she won't stop."


	31. Chapter 31

Sheik stared at Impa's arms as she bandaged them.

"If you would at least let me use a red potion on you," said Sheik, reaching for her arms.

Impa moved away from him. "It won't help," she said with a pained smile. "I am falling apart, and so must be all the other sages. It hurts a bit, but I'll be fine. At least until I reach the castle."

"If you go, then we both should go with you."

"No. You can't expose yourself like this Sheik," said Impa. "The hero was right. You have to stay hidden until we know more about what is happening. My memories are coming back in bits and pieces, but I know that whatever was done to me happened before you were captured."

"I'm sick of everyone trying to protect me. I can protect myself. I won't trust princess Zelda again," he said.

Impa patted him in the head with her bandaged hands. Sheik could feel an unnerving cold emanating from her.

"Don't say that. I don't know what happened, but if the princess did what she did, then…I don't doubt her intentions," said Impa. "You more than anyone should know that we often must do things we despise, for the greater good."

Sheik pursed his lips. "I can't see the greater good in erasing me from existence. In vanishing me even from your memories and your heart."

"It is impossible to erase you from my heart dear. That was the only reason why I could break through Zelda's spell. There is no timeline that can destroy a mother's love," said Impa, and leaned down to press a kiss to Sheik's forehead.

Sheik felt himself blushing, and looked at the Deity to see if he was looking, but Oni still sat on the windowsill at the back of the room, looking outside and uncaring about anything at all.

"Link knows of a fairy fountain that could heal you," said Sheik.

"There is nothing the fairies can do for me now. They can only heal wounds of the flesh. And I am not made of blood and flesh anymore," said Impa.

"What?"

Impa looked at him with a sad longing. "Dearest Sheik…I am dead already. I died that day at the shadow temple."

Sheik felt his blood run cold. "N-No…That's impossible…You're here! I can see you. I'm talking to you right now!" he cried, reaching out to hug her.

"I know. I can still cast a solid form, and interact with the world. But I gave my body and my life to the shadows. Just like Saria gave hers to the forest, and Ruto to the water. We all died, because no mortal being can become a sage. I'm sorry that we never told you. I'm sorry…that you had to find out like this…"

Sheik's vision blurred, and he realized he was crying. "No…no…If I'd been there…If I'd gone with you…," he said.

"If you had gone with me, you would have had to see me die, and I would have hated to have you suffer like that," said Impa, caressing his hair. "Or maybe you would have saved me, but then there would have been no Shadow sage, and Ganondorf would have never been vanquished to the dark realm. This was the correct path for me. It is a painful one, but it is the best I could have taken."

She stepped away from him, her form darkening, merging with the shadows as they came alive.

"Mom!" cried Sheik, trying to reach for her.

"Stay here Sheik. Everything will be alright," said Impa, turning completely black, and disappearing into the shadows.

"No! Stop! Come back!" yelled Sheik, but she was gone.

Link kicked the door open. "What happened?" he asked, looking around.

"Impa is gone. And she's dead!" said Sheik, falling to the floor.

"Oh…You…didn't know she was dead already?" asked Link.

Sheik glared up at him and Dark elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hey man, don't say that," said Dark.

"I mean!" said Link, kneeling beside Sheik and hugging him. "I-I'm sorry! Did she leave on her own? Through the shadow realm?"

"Sometimes you can be so heartless," said Sheik, unmoving in Link's arms.

_Sometimes you can be so heartless, and I don't know if that's you, or if the war made you like this._

_If all our pressure made you like this._

"I'm so sorry Sheik. I'm trying, but Zelda is about to come get you, and we need to get out of here," said Link.

Sheik nodded. "No, you're right. Sorry, I…I lost a hold of myself there," he said, wiping his face and pushing his hair away from his face. "I'll get ready and we can leave in a couple minutes"

Oni Link stood up from the window sill. "The princess isn't coming," he said, not taking his eyes away from the sky outside.

"What? But she said she knew that Sheik is in Kakariko," said Link.

"The seal is starting to open. This isn't the natural course of it disintegrating on its own. Something is tearing it from the other side. I can't see it myself, but it has to be Ganondorf. There is no other explanation. She must have figured out just as much, and she's stronger near the temple of Light. It would be foolish to engage him anywhere other than the temple," said Oni, walking outside.

"Seriously? He's just kicking the door open?" asked Dark, running after the deity and leaving Sheik and Link alone.

"What did the princess say Link?" asked Sheik.

Link gritted his teeth. "Nothing useful," he muttered.

"Link, come on!" yelled Sheik, shaking him.

Link pushed him away. "It has to be you," he said in a low voice, standing up. "You have to be the shield. Either you or Zelda, but only Zelda can cast it with the power of her Triforce, which she can't if she's going to be the shield."

"So it was true," said Sheik, standing up and putting his mask back on. "She did this because she had no other option."

"There _must_ be other options. I can hold back Ganondorf, we can create another shield with both of our triforces, we can-"

"But she must have already thought of that," said Sheik, hiding his hair underneath his mask and resheating his knives. He looked around, trying to think of anything he had owned that he would have liked to be buried with, but he couldn't think of anything.

"No she hasn't!"

"Link, the princess has the triforce of wisdom for a reason. I wanted to believe otherwise, but if this is the only way…I will have to sacrifice myself."

"No, Sheik, that's crazy!" said Link, holding Sheik against his chest. "I don't want you to disappear again. I don't want to lose you again."

Sheik let his head fall against Link's chest. He wondered how living in peace with him would have been. Would he have grown to be taller than him? Would he have accompanied him in his travels? Would he have fallen in love with him, and returned Link's feelings?

Sheik hugged him back. He didn't know anything about matters of the heart, but he knew that it felt good to stay there. To feel the warmth of him and he yearned to grow old along with him. And maybe that was love.

"Link, stop talking like a little kid," said Sheik, unwilling to let go of him.

"I've never known how to be a kid," said Link, hugging him harder. "And I had to do it twice. Messed it up both times. And now I'm failing as a hero too."

"Link…"

"I can't let you do this to yourself Sheik. I am the hero. I have to save you."

A green light flooded the house, enveloping them in the scent of the forest. Link pulled Sheik behind him and took out his shield just as Saria appeared at the center of the room. She looked so tiny next to them, and yet Sheik could feel her power radiating from her.

"Saria don't," said Link. "Don't do this."

"There is very little time Link," she said reaching a hand to him. "But I will give it all to you. Come with me to the forest temple. You are not safe here. The darkness will start falling very soon, and the Triforce of Courage is stronger in the temple of the forest. I can allow you to communicate with Zelda there, but she won't be able to reach you."

Her voice had the same immaterial, echoing quality to it as Impa's voice had, and Sheik's mind wondered for a moment exactly how she had died. Had all the sages surrendered their lives willingly? Had they died and their spirits been consumed by the temples?

Had they been afraid?

"See? There is still time!" said Link, smiling at Sheik.

In truth, Sheik didn't want to die. Worse, he didn't want to be removed from existence, trapped between life and death forever.

"Fine," said Sheik, then turned to Saria. "But if things get too dangerous, please take me right to Zelda. Promise me you will, even if Link doesn't want to. Even if I don't want to."

Saria nodded.


	32. Chapter 32

Zelda sat at the side of her father's bed. His end was near. She would be crowned the same way she had been crowned the first time. Snatching the crown and running out of the castle just as her father died before her eyes.

In a dark way, her pathetic attempt at a second chance had been for naught.

"Here we are again. The same as last time," she said to herself.

She could feel Impa's presence, her power vibrating from the shadows that enveloped her father's room. She had closed the curtains to not see the way the sky fell apart. Only for a few minutes. She wanted to snatch just a moment of peace from the claws of destiny, but it seemed like she wouldn't be allowed even that.

"I wish you would forgive me," said Impa. The shadows pooled at the feet of the king's bed as she retook her physical form. "At the very least, I wish you would forgive Sheik."

Zelda cringed as if she had been struck. "I didn't do it because I hated him. There is nothing to forgive. There is only pain. Pain that repeats again and again. Although I'm ashamed to admit that…I was a little happy at the turn of events. Happy in a perverse way. I guess Ganondorf and I are not that different."

Impa placed a hand on her shoulder. It was cold. Dead cold. Tears fell down Zelda's eyes. And yet she had no time to cry. She stood up.

"That is nonsense, Zelda. Just because you're not perfect, just because you were angry at what I did, you can't compare yourself to Ganondorf."

And yet evil seeped into your soul little by little. Given enough time, could she have turned into a dark queen? She had no doubt she could have.

If she had been a good queen, she would have told Impa before she casted the spell. She would not have considered her just another spirit to be manipulated so she could steal away her only son.

If she had been a good queen, she would have been sad. She would have cried for her half brother.

She wouldn't have felt relief. Relief that now there was no trace of her father's love for Impa.

"After what I did…I'm sorry. For everything, Impa…," said Zelda.

"I have already forgiven you, my dear."

Zelda nodded. She hadn't dared to look at Impa's face.

But now she had to leave.

"I have to go to the Temple of Light," she said, and turned to the door.

Impa held on to her hand. "Ganondorf will still be out there. Stay with your father."

"I have seen my father die before. There is nothing I should stay for," said Zelda, and walked out of the room.

She had seen her father die before. And she had no strength to see it again.

She hoped he would forgive her for that, too.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I had a really rough last week. It was wild since monday when I had to take a really hard exam and then I had no rest until yesterday so I couldn't update at all.
> 
> Buuut, now I'm free! Well, I still have a couple more exams to take, but those are a little easier so that means I now have a bit more time to dedicate to fanfic. Yay! But I wanted to take a moment now to thank all the lovely people who have been leaving comments. Your words truly make my day, and I'm so thankful that you are enjoying this story so much.
> 
> Since I now will have more free time I'll be changing the updates days,and I'm gonna be updating two chapters today, and then one every day from monday to friday. Thank you again for your support, and I hope you keep enjoying this story until the end!

 "I do feel…stronger in here," said Link, staring at his hands.

"Hella weird," said Dark, from his place perched on the branch of the dead tree near the entrance of the Forest Temple.

"The Triforce activated during your battle with Ganondorf, so you hadn't noticed it because you hadn't come to the Temple since then," said Saria.

Sheik walked up to the Deity, who stared up at the sky. The cracks over the sky had turned black, darkening the day.

"Can't you do something about that?" asked Sheik.

"In this mortal form? No," said the deity, without bothering to look dow at Sheik. "Even if I was free of this mortal appearance, the seal and the spells casted on the timelines were done using Nayru's power from the Triforce. To do anything, I would have to destroy all the bindings, and that would force the two timelines to collapse into each other."

"No, we definitely don't want that," said Sheik, rubbing his temples. He looked back at Link, who stood at the entrance of the temple, trying to communicate with Zelda by using the Triforce. "I regret coming here. Could you send me to the castle now? Before Link noti-"

The deity was gone.

Sheik gasped, looking around for him, but the deity was gone completely.


	34. Chapter 34

Oni had gone to the middle of the Lost Woods, to the lake that connected them to Zora's River.

Nayru had called him there.

"Those children belong to Farore, if I'm not mistaken," said Oni, looking at the body of the little Lost Girl that Nayru had possessed, as she floated in the middle of the lake.

"All beings belong to the Law. And you are interfering with it," she said. The golden hair of the girl started turning white. Her skin losing all color.

"I wear a mortal form capable of containing me, and created from the very prison you made for me. There is no fault to the law. We may settle our affairs later anyway," he waved a hand towards the Forest Temple, where the others waited. "Your creations will tear themselves apart with your power."

Nayru crossed her arms. "They have been tearing themselves apart with everything we have put on this earth for them. Give them a rock, they will bash each other's head with it," she said. "The shield will collapse, and the timelines will merge, all according to the law. I don't see why you care."

"You fought me for this, yet you let Din's chosen one destroy as he pleases," growled Oni.

"Living beings do as they please. They always have. That is the law of free will. Everyone wants free will until they don't like someone else's free will. That mortal form is making you think like a mortal."

"You don't understand. There is more to the law!" yelled Oni, stepping into the lake. He wanted to crush her mortal form and send her back to the heavens just for being so annoying.

Nayru smirked, and the waters from the lake rose, freezing around him. She had hidden her trap in the shifting waves, and laughed as Oni fell to the bottom of the lake, trapped in his cristal prison.

"You have always been too arrogant for your own good," said Nayru. "Thousands of years ago I sealed you away with a few whispers, and I will do it all again."

Then she ascended to the heavens, leaving the discarded dead body of the girl to sink down the lake next to the Fierce Deity.


	35. Chapter 35

Sheik ran up to the dead tree. "Dark! Oni is gone!" he cried.

"Uh? Really?" asked the shadow, looking around for him. "Maybe he got bored? Gods are weird like that."

"I don't think so. I have a bad feeling about this. Can you look for him, like in your shared minds or something? Just to find out where he is?"

Dark jumped down. "Sure, I'll try. But his mind is wacko, so don't expect too much," he said, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "Hmmm, I can't feel anything…This is weird…"

"Can you tell where he is?" asked Sheik.

Dark opened his eyes. He had turned serious. "Let me get Link, this is too weird. I can't feel him at all. It's like…Like, when a room is there, but now there's not even a door. It's all just black."

Saria screamed, falling to her knees as great black cracks opened all through her little body. "He's coming!" she yelled.

The darkness spreading from the cracks in the sky started dripping down on the earth. At the center of the cracks shone a red light like a far off torch.

Saria stumbled to her feet. "Sheik!" she cried, and Sheik was already running to her. Dark moved to stop him, but stopped himself right before he caught Sheik.

"No!" cried Link, but it was too late.

Sheik vanished in a flash of green light.

"Why didn't you stop him?!" shouted Link to Dark.

"I'm a hero too, you idiot," muttered Dark. "It was the right thing to do."

"I know! Damn it, I know!" said Link, wiping tears away from his eyes. He took a deep breath and held Saria's trembling form. "I'm sorry Saria. I knew we had to, but…"

Saria fell against him. "It's alright. It's…not too late. I sent him to the Temple of Time, but now we need you here," she said, and pointed to the flaming red light that burned brighter and brighter.

Link's heart sank.

"Ganondorf," he whispered.

There it was. All his nightmares about having to fight a battle that he couldn't win were coming back to him.

"Of course you can win! Come on, get your magical sword out!" said Dark.

"You're scared too," said Link, his mouth almost smiling at the whole situation.

"Bitch, I'm your opposite," said Dark, taking Saria and carrying her in his arms. "You should be filled with heroic courage or something while I cower."

Link sighed as he took out the master sword. Fear? Courage?

In truth, all he felt was a deep calm.

Even as he saw Ganondorf descend into the woods, surrounded by dark fire, as ready for battle as he had been the first time.

 _'_ _At least now, I can see the sky while we fight,'_ thought Link, his mind a calm sea.

"I have been waiting for you," said Link, as the dark king descended in front of him.

Link felt like he had been waiting for him his whole life. All of his lives with all of his reruns through time. As if their battle had been merely postponed, paused in the middle.

"What an arrogant thing to say," said Ganondorf with a smirk, pushing his cape back. "Fitting to the Hero of Time. Your mindless courage makes a fool of you, when you should fear me with every atom of your body."

"I do fear you Ganondorf. How could I not?" said Link, walking forward. He still feared, and raged. But his emotions ran deep inside his heart, quelled by the calmness of his mind. "Let us fight now. I'm tired of waiting."

Ganondorf growled, rising above him in the air. "Fool. You think you can defeat me, when you couldn't do it the first time? When you haven't even destroyed the shadow of you that I created?" he said, and sent a ray of thunder towards Dark and Saria.

Link intercepted it and hit it back with the master sword, but Ganondorf descended away from it, flying right at him and kicking him in the face. Link rolled away, jumping at his feet right away, just in time to see Ganondorf dodge a ray of green energy from Saria.

Link sprinted forward, slashing at him with the master sword, but Ganondorf floated away, sending a wall of fire at them.

Dark picked up Saria. The energy still around her burned his skin, but he still ran away with her. "We're just distracting Link, let's get out of here," said Dark, running to the exit with Saria in his arms.

Ganondorf flew in front of them. "You. I still have much to discuss with you," he said, sending a ray of thunder at them.

It hit them straight on, electrocuting both of them and sent them flying backwards.

A light sparked, as Link shot a light arrow at Ganondorf, hitting him in the shoulder and making him retreat.

"You came to battle with me," said Link, the power of the triforce shining around him in a green light. A pale candlelight to Ganondorf's all consuming fire. "Leave them alone!"

"I have come to fight you and all the sages that sealed me away," roared Ganondorf, the earth shaking with his power. He lifted his hands, summoning a great fireball that darkened the forest around them with its' black flames.

Link readied the mirror shield.

"Watch out!" yelled Dark, just as Ganondorf shot the fireball at him.

Dark had seen within the fireball, and found it empty, but it was too late. Link lifted his shield at it while the earth bellow him erupted in black flames, throwing him back.

Dark jumped up, summoning the shadows to stand between them, but Ganondorf swatted him away like a fly and walked up to Link lying dazed on the ground. He stepped on his arm, breaking his writs to make him let go of the master sword.

"A fool's courage and nothing more," said Ganondorf, pulling him up by the neck. "I want you to look at me as you die. I want you to fear me."

Link grimaced, the pain in his wrist making him scream.

And yet, he felt nothing.

As if he had been emptied of all emotions. The pain made him scream, but as he looked at Ganondorf's face…as he felt his hands around his throat, asphyxiating him slowly…

He felt nothing.

Ganondorf screamed, letting Link fall down on the ground.

The palms of his hands had been burnt where he had touched Link. "You…what sorcery is this?" he asked. He tried to cast forth thunder, but his hands flared with a green fire that burned him.

"You…is this why you had no fear? Is it why you think I can't kill you?"

Link coughed on the ground, struggling to breathe.

Ganondorf stepped away from him. "I have many ways of destroying you. My power is beyond your comprehension."

He walked away, and picked up Dark's unconscious form. "Once I have torn down this world you and the princess created, then you will fear me."

He vanished in a flurry of black flames.


	36. Chapter 36

Sheik appeared in the center of the temple of time and stumbled forward. The temple spun around him as he tried to regain his balance.

"Sheik?" he heard the princess' voice.

He rubbed his eyes and looked towards the voice coming from the altar. Zelda stood there, her eyes red and her hair a mess.

"Your highness?" asked Sheik, immediately concerned for her. She almost never lost her calm like this. "Are you alright? Saria sent me here. Quick, use me to set up the shield!"

He ran up to her.

"She sent you here?" asked Zelda. "I…Sheik, I'm sorry. I wish I hadn't had to do it."

The old rage flared up in Sheik's heart, while all the things he had been robbed of flashed in his mind. He hadn't had his childhood back. His mother was dead. He had been robbed of his future completely. He had even been robbed of his death. His soul would stay trapped in that shield along with his body. Forever.

"I want to punch you in the face!" yelled Sheik, stomping his foot. "I can't believe you did this to me! Just kidnapping me like that, it's so awful…But, I don't hate you. I understand that you did what you had to. I had the potential to ruin the only hope for the world, and I…I don't think I would have the strength to agree to it back then. You had a decision to take, and you did so. I have not seen it, but I fully believe you have become a great queen…I still want to punch you in the face though."

Zelda smiled, despite the tears falling from her eyes. "Thank you Sheik. During all those years running away from Ganondorf, you were my best friend. My only friend. Thank you."

Sheik nodded. "Let's do this before I realize what I'm doing," he said.

Zelda grabbed his hand and pulled him to the center of the temple. "Come, we have to go to the Spirit temple. The sages are holding the barrier together, but I can cast it on my own."

The ceiling of the Temple of Time collapsed on them, and Sheik shielded Zelda from the debris with his body.

"So you used your little replacement to seal me," said Ganondorf, grabbing Sheik, holding him in a chokehold. On his shoulder he carried the unconscious body of Dark Link. "It's funny what a bit of royal blood can do. Too bad there's two of you, but I'll use his royal blood anyway"

"W-what?" said Sheik, trying to get away from Ganondorf, gasping for breath.

"Let go of my brother!" yelled Zelda, shooting a ray of light at him.

Ganondorf let go of Sheik to stop her attack, which gave Sheik enough time to take out his dagger and stab Ganondorf in the ribs.

As soon as he touched Ganondorf, a burning energy flowed through Sheik's body, electrocuting him.

He crumpled unconscious to the floor.

Zelda shot rays of light at him, using all her power to force Ganondorf away from Sheik. "You can't hold me back now!" she shouted, calling forth her bow of light and shooting arrows at Ganondorf. She was too fast for him, and Ganondorf had to drop Dark's body to cast thunder at her with both hands.

She dodged to the side, and reflected his attacks back at him with her shields. Her attacks were weaker, but she could cast her spells faster. She glanced at Sheik, wondering if she could distract Ganondorf enough to transport him to the Spirit Temple.

She notched a light arrow, aiming for Ganondorf's head, when she froze.

He blood ran cold, and she lost all her breath, as if she was choking from the inside. Her bow and arrow disappeared, and a soft scent like lilacs filled her nose.

She felt peaceful. Unafraid.

Dead.

She breathed deep, closing her eyes.

And when she opened them again, they had turned purple.

"Are you giving up, princess?" asked Ganondorf, laughing.

Zelda's expression turned bored. Her golden paled. "Din chooses the most pathetic pawns," she said, he voice booming and the power radiating from her, shaking the very foundations of the Temple of Time.

She turned around, and vanished.


	37. Chapter 37

Link dragged himself forward. He felt an absolute silence in his mind, and he couldn't hear any other thoughts but his own. When he tried to look into his mindspace, all he could see was a vast nothingness.

He was alone. Completely alone.

The trees shook in the wind, and Saria reformed next to him. Her whole body was criss crossed by black cracks, and her face contorted in pain.

"Link, I can't…I can't take you to the Temple of Time," she said, kneeling next to Link. Her form faded here and there, parts of her body vanishing and reappearing.

Link pushed himself up. "Did he hurt you?" he asked Saria, pulling her up against him with his good arm.

Saria gave a sad laugh. "That doesn't matter. I am dead now. This pain is nothing," she said.

"It is still real now," said Link, caressing her hair. "Rest for a moment."

"No, I…I need to go help the others. We need to hold the barrier up," said Saria, standing up despite her pain. "I'm sorry…I can't…I can't stay."

Link nodded. "Go," he whispered.

"That thing you did, with the triforce…" said Saria.

"That wasn't me."

"But-"

"Go. There isn't much time left."

Saria bit her lower lip, but said nothing more, and turned away, vanishing in a flash of green light.

Link took out a red potion and drank it to fix his broken wrist. It wasn't enough. It only resettled the bone and numbed the pain a little. He looked down at his hand and pulled off his glove to see the Triforce glowing with a soft green light.

"You gods are so strange. You created things that feel, but you cannot understand our pain. I wonder if you feel anything at all," he said, still looking at the triforce.

He was still afraid. More than ever before. But the absolute calm that filled him had never left.

The world around him shone greener, and a scent filled his nose. Something like the scent of the earth after it rained.

He felt cold.

"Farore…," he whispered, before his blood ran cold.


	38. Chapter 38

Oni Link couldn't see anything. Nayru's shield blocked off his capacity for omnivision completely. He was trapped in the lake, alone with the silence and a dead body.

Link would be sad if he knew.

But of course he couldn't know. The shield blocked even their mindspaces. Nayru had separated them just as she had wanted to. It would take no time for her to possess a more suitable vessel to come get him. If she tore his vessel apart, he would be forced to go back to his prison on the moon.

He hit the shield, burning part of his fist.

Useless.

Something shone above, but he couldn't see past the waves, until a dark form approached. A woman with bright red hair and tanned skin.

No. A spirit. He could see it in the cracks on her physical form and the way parts of her body faded in and out of vision. He looked down, and saw a dark blue shadow underneath the cristal. It hovered around the dead body of the kokiri girl, and then moved to the lower part of the cristal, under Oni's feet.

The Sage of Spirit and the Sage of Water, it seemed. Oni didn't understand why they were here, but if they expected him to lead them to Sheik, they were about to be disappointed.

Both of them held on to the crystal, letting the energy concentrated in it flow through them and into the waves, dissolving the shield.

He didn't care much for whatever they could want from him, but their help with the shield would be thanked. After all, he was a god, and gods had to return all services and all sacrifices.

As the shield faded, dissolving away, he could hear the whispers of everything around. He heard them into his very core, knowing everything all around. He heard the whispering of the wind, and the rustling of leaves, and especially the depth of Link's mind. It open before him like a clear ocean.

Bright. Green.

Too bright.

Farore.

He blocked off their mental bond, sealing himself away from Farore's interference. It seemed like Nayru had taken care to enclose his physical vessel, while Farore waited to attack his mind.

If so, he didn't have much time to fight.

He expanded his power, breaking what was left of the crystal.

 _"_ _My apologies, but I must leave,"_ he said, sending his voice through the waves, and jumped out of the lake.


	39. Chapter 39

Oni Link looked at the darkness flowing from the cracks in the sky and the way it flowed towards the castle. He couldn't expand his senses the same way as before, or he ran the risk of his mind touching Link's. He gritted his teeth.

Of course, he had known that Farore would know about him right away. After all, Link was nothing if not Farore's pawn.

And yet…and yet he had let himself get too familiar with him. Had left him an open road into the infinite awareness that was his own divine awareness.

And now Farore had had enough, and snatched Link back. What silly hopes he had entertained by thinking that she would side with him against Nayru.

A light shone bright and purple down from the sky, and Nayru floated in front of him, wearing the body of princess Zelda.

"They call you the Fierce Deity now," laughed Nayru. Her vessel held up better than the last one. Only the tips of her hair started losing their color, fading into white. It would start cracking from the inside soon though, no matter how compatible with her the spirit of the princess was.

And yet not soon enough.

"They have called me a lot of things throughout the years," said Oni.

Nayru smiled. "Nuissance is as good a name as you need," she said.

Nayru lifted a hand, and the very earth cracked under Oni's feet. He hovered in the same spot. Waiting.

He needed an entrance. He needed a breach in her defense, which he could see swirling like purple lights all around her.

"You disrespect me, Nayru," said Oni, calling forth his power, and feeling the limitations of his current vessel. It would crumble if he put too much pressure on it. "Do you think I am a simple mortal that will bow to you as soon as you stomp your feet down?"

"You might as well be. In that wooden puppet you copied from Farore," she said, swatting him away.

Oni teleported away from the spot, just as it crumbled, as if an explosion had taken everything away, leaving nothing but a great hole.

Oni called forth his sword and slashed at Nayru, who dodged it with a single step, so that only the tips of her hair were cut off. The hair sizzled and flared as it burned off, released from Nayru's control.

Barely more than a simple shove to Nayru, Oni was sure of it.

It was too much. Zelda had been created for her just as Link had been created to contain Farore. Oni simply couldn't compete with the power they could channel through their vessels. He would never win if he kept being constrained by the law.

Especially not when he didn't want to fight her.

Oh, he wished he could strangle her and rip her apart. He had cultivated his hatred for thousands of years, watching her laws rule the world below. He wanted to land a thousand stabs throughout her body.

And yet, when he saw the hylian face looking back at him, with that pale golden hair floating about, he would stop himself. He would slow his slashes and still his hand.

"Has your imprisonment turned you weak?" asked Nayru, with the same mouth that had dared Link to drinking contests, and blown him kisses from afar. From the same mouth that thanked Link for giving everything he had done to save the world. "Or could it be something else?"

Oni Link saw the purple sparkle in her eyes, wanting to shout to Link's stupid heart that that wasn't princess Zelda. She couldn't be.

"Leave my world," said Nayru, the energy around her expanding and burning away everything in her path.

Oni Link backflipped away from her, expanding his own energy to block her. The space between them exploded, obliterating trees and earth equally.

"This is not your world anymore," spat Oni.

It was Farore's world, it was Din's world. It was his own world. His own light had shone down on it, and the living beings adored him just as much as they adored Nayru.

Nayru's face contorted in rage.

"Ah, I'm right," said Oni, smirking. "This is why you want to destroy me. You can't stand for me to be adored too. You would destroy the moon if you could!"

"I can! I will take it back and have Din put it back on my world," said Nayru, parting the clouds and calling forth the moon into view.

"What are you doing?!" cried Oni, feeling the earth shake. "You are upsetting the law! You will break apart the world."

"It is my world and it will do as I command!" yelled Nayru.

Oni took a deep breath, letting his consciousness fall deeper into his self. Past Link's sealed mind. Past the awareness that this vessel could contain, and deep into the part of himself that still resided in the moon. His true form.

He opened his eye to see white. His temple.

Transparent water cascaded down the walls onto the floor that shook with each forced movement of the moon.

He went out of the temple, into the green grass outside. He could see the earth get closer and closer, so he held on to the law that commanded the moon to surround the earth. Let it flow into every particle of the moon, down into the cold core.

It stopped.

Nayru hit him before he could resurface into his vessel. He awoke to the feel of dirt and fluids in his face.

Blood.

Cold and useless, but still blood.

"You won't stop me. The moon obeys _me_ , not you," said Nayru, kicking him in the stomach.

Oni cried in pain, feeling something inside his vessel break.

"It is obeying you, you idiot!" yelled Oni, pushing himself up. "You made the law!"

Nayru shrieked, sending thunder down on him. Oni dodged it, but he could feel himself losing blood fast. He had almost forgotten this vessel needed it. But the return to the moon had given him enough power to defend himself.

He punched the ground in front of him, sending a wave of energy that lifted up the very earth over Nayru.

"You are an unworthy opponent," said Oni. "And we shall face off once more. With our own true faces."

He flew away towards the castle, where he could feel the darkness collecting.

Where he could hear the shadow crying in pain.


	40. Chapter 40

Dark was dragged back to consciousness by pain. Excruciating pain throughout his body.

He screamed.

What a ridiculous creature you turned out to be," said Ganondorf's voice, and the sharp, cutting pain over his skin ceased, letting Dark breathe deeply.

He looked at the towering figure of Ganondorf in front of him, standing tall and more powerful than he had ever been in any of Dark's nightmares.

"I thought you had turned out to be just a hollow shell, but look at you. Running all over Hyrule hand in hand with the hero of time," said Ganondorf.

Dark's eyes swept all around him, looking for an exit. Looking for an escape. They seemed to be in some room in the castle. Burnt marks and scratches and blood, all decorated the walls around them. And on the farther wall, something hung. Something white and yellow and red.

Sheik.

Tied to the wall, his blood dripping down into a black bowl.

Dark felt the beating, heartlike thing in his chest twist painfully. Was this terror? It stabbed hard at him from the inside, almost enough to make him scream again. But he was petrified. Frozen in place, crumpled like a useless doll on the floor. This was who he really was. A poor shadow, as weak as Link was strong. As fearful as Link was courageous.

Something choked him. Inside.

Ganondorf grabbed him by his long black hair, forcing him to look at the Dark King's face.

"How cute. He never looks that scared. If only you could cry. I could keep you as a pet, after I've killed him," said Ganondorf.

_After I've killed him._

So Link was alive.

Dark hissed, clawing at Ganondorf's face with his nails that had turned into black claws. Dark blood flowed across Ganondorf's face, and he roared, letting go of him.

Dark could feel his form escaping his control. Tearing at the edges, turning monstrous. He was nothing more than a shadow. But he was the hero's shadow.

Dark looked back into his mindspace, searching for a way to contact link, but as soon as he closed his eyes he met with a wall of green fire roaring at the edges of his mind. It burned with a freezing cold that seemed to ravage everything in its path. Approaching. Purifying.

"Link!" cried Dark, opening his eyes, blocking the green fire from his mind.

Ganondorf punched him in the face, and he fell to the ground, the world spinning around him.

"You have been nothing but an annoyance," he said, kicking him in the stomach.

Dark tried to melt into the grown, lose the physical form that hurt him so much, but something held him in place, confining him to the boundaries of this form.

Ganondorf pulled him up by the hair. "The most annoying and useless of my pets. Don't think you can escape me so easily this time," he said, and a dark shock of electricity ran all over Dark's body, forcing his claws back into fingers, forcing his fangs back into perfect teeth, and shortening his black hair. "I can almost tolerate you when you look like him. I might, in fact, get to enjoy you."

And his touch was hot. Too hot. And he could feel his breath against his face.

Just like last time.

He screamed, trashing to get away from him. But Ganondorf held him in an iron grip. Dark hissed, roared like a beast. He would tear off his own arms if he could.

_Not again. Not again. No. No no nononono-_

A flash of light blinded the both of them, and the wall crumbled. A wave of energy threw them to the end of the room. Ganondorf let go of Dark, jumping to the side just as a slash of energy cut a jagged hole into the wall.

Oni stood on the pile of debris, leaning on his sword. Bright red blood ran down the side of his face, and his clothes hung torn and dirty over him, but still his very presence radiated an absolute power.

"You…what are you?" asked Ganondorf, looking at the god that stood before him. "Hero?"

Oni lifted his sword again, slashing at him again, and destroying anything in his way. Ganondorf flew away, dodging his attacks, until he was backed into the wall where he kept Sheik.

Oni's steps were firm and strong, but he seemed unfocused. Dark could see it in the slow way he moved. In the way his very body seemed unable to express his rage.

"You are not the hero," said Ganondorf, breathless just from escaping the reach of Oni's sword. "But we will see each other again."

He covered Sheik with his cape, and disappeared along with him in a flash of black flames.

Oni roared, and his power blew through the wall. But they were gone.

A heaviness seemed to lift from Dark's body, and his mind cleared from the sharp terror he had felt.

The green fire was still there, freezing at the back of his mind, but now he could think clearly.

He jumped to his feet and ran up to Oni.

"Good Goddesses, what happened to you?" he asked, tearing a piece of his black tunic to wipe the cold blood at the side of Oni's face.

"Goddesses," grunted Oni.

"What?" asked Dark.

"Goddesses happened to me, and they weren't good."

He seemed even more unfocused than before. Unfocused and distant. Dark couldn't put his finger on it, but for some reason he felt that despite being so close, he was talking to Oni from across a great space.

Oni put a hand to Dark's face, and something seemed to fall off from over Dark. Like some heavy sludge that hung all over him. The remains of Ganondorf's magic controlling his physical form.

"What did you-?" started Dark, when he felt long bangs of dark hair fall over his face.

"You looked weird like that," said Oni.

Dark took a deep breath, and let his head fall on Oni's chest. He was thankful, but he wasn't sure why, and he didn't want to think about it.

"He took Sheik. I don't know what-No, wait. He was like, draining out his blood," said Dark.

"I know. He wants to use Sheik's royal blood to tear the barrier between worlds," said Oni, brushing Dark's hair with his fingers. "It is already open enough for him to go across it, but he intends to destroy it completely to force the timelines to crash. I can feel him now. In the temple of Spirit. It is the weakest part of the barrier, since once Link removed Sheik, it started crumbling from there."

"Shit. We gotta stop him. Let me find a sword," said Dark, pushing himself away from Oni and looking around. "We gotta find Link, and stop him. And what the hell did you mean with that whole Goddesses happened to me thing?"

Oni shook his head. "No, I'm going to stop him. Link is gone. Farore has kidnapped him. And Nayru has possessed Zelda. I have to destroy Ganondorf before they release Din from the core of the world and let her possess him."

"W-what? When did all that happened?!" asked Dark.

Oni turned away from him, shouldering his own huge sword. "During the last hour more or less," he said, walking away.

"Hey, don't you ignore me!" said Dark, hurrying after him. "So we have to kill Ganondorf first?"

"Not kill. Destroy. I have to destroy him completely, so Din cannot inhabit his body. And I will do it. You will stay here."

"Hell no!" said Dark. "Why? Two against one is better. I just need a weapon. He- He just caught me by surprise. I'll fight him now," said Dark, trying to convince himself he wasn't lying.

"I can't have him hurt you any more. It's too dangerous," said Oni.

"Dangerous? Do you also feel the pain when I'm hurt like Link? I thought your super god powers protected you."

Oni sighed, and stopped to look at Dark. "I don't feel any pain. I just don't want you to be hurt or scared anymore. It's dangerous because I'll be worried, and I can't fight like that. I don't know how to fight like that."

"You what?" asked Dark. "What does that even mean? You think I'm weak? Fine, I was maybe a little scared! But I'm fine now. It was just a slip. You think I can't fight? I gave Link a good trashing back in the Temple of Water."

"I know. I know everything. I am a god," said Oni. "But you're weird. Even though I know you can't fight, I worry that he will hurt you."

"Huh, and I'm the weird one? That's _your_ problem, Mr. Divine Being!"

Oni didn't have any irises that could be seen, as his eyes were completely white, but even then Dark could _feel_ him rolling his eyes at him.

"Shadow, I am a god. I can do this on my own. I need you safe and away from Nayru and Farore, because if they capture you, I won't be able to fight them anymore."

"That's why you kept saying that we were weaker if we separated? Because if they capture us both, they'll get you too?"

"No. It's because I think I love you, and I won't want to fight them if they hold you hostage," said Oni, and vanished.

"You…what?" mumbled Dark, realizing all too late that he was alone.


	41. Chapter 41

Zelda was burning away. Her memories, like rooms in a house on fire, vanished as they were licked by the purple flames. Memories. Feelings. Everything that made her who she was. She saw it all go up in flames as she ran through the rooms of her mindspace.

"Stop! Stop!" she cried, but there was no way to stop everything from burning.

Here, the excitement of her first appearance in court cracked and flamed. There, the whispers of the forest as she ran away from the attack on castle town on Impa's arms faded to nothing.

"No! No!" she yelled, trying to grab onto the memory, as painful as it was. It was still her. It was her own pain.

"It's alright," said a weak female voice, echoing in the halls of Zelda's mind. She knew that voice too well. It haunted her dreams since she was a child. "I need to rest, and you need to sleep. We'll work on your embroidery in the morning."

Zelda ran to another room on fire, where she had said good bye to her mother for the last time, before she had passed away during the night.

"Don't take her away!" shouted Zelda, seeing the flames erase her mother's voice and face from her memory. "I need her! I love her!"

As she fell to her knees, she realized that she needed her as much now, as she had when she woke up the next morning, five years old and alone.

Strange footsteps sounded behind her, and a cold voice spoke. "So you are still here," it said.

Zelda looked up to see a copy o herself, with purple eyes and white hair.

"Burn already. Your noise is too annoying," it said, and vanished.

"I won't burn!" yelled Zelda, standing up. "Tear me apart, but I won't leave! This is my body! Mine!"

Nothing answered.

She needed to find a safe place. Away from the flames. She had to survive, memories or not.

She ran through white and golden hallways, up and down staircases made of half remembered conversations, across the shadows of murmured voices that she could no longer identify. There had to be something else. There had to be somewhere in her own mind where she could be safe. Or at least something she could use to protect herself.

And yet, as she looked around at the labyrinths and towers of her mind, she knew that it would lead her nowhere safe.

 _'_ _It will collapse. –I- will collapse. Into myself,'_ she thought

She ran across the gaping holes left by the fire, crossing through unrelated memories, and through the voids that her burned memories left. There were no black voids where the flames devoured her mind, but only a plain, quiet nothingness.

She ran, looking for a way to escape her own mind. Refusing to descend into her own destruction. She knew she could escape. She had to be able to. Everything was connected. The magical energy flowed from and through her into everything in the world, so it would not be too wild to think that there was a way out of herself.

She blinked, realizing that she had been listening to something among the sounds of the flames. Following a voice that called at her with a familiar tone.

 _'_ _Are you hiding again? Come out. Come here, it's time for dinner,'_ said the voice. _'You're doing great, next time, you might even defeat me.'_

A shiver ran down Zelda's spine when she realized that she was hearing Impa's voice. Her presence lingered on so many of her memories, that she was a constant throughout the expanses of her mind.

She kept running, despite the tears that filled her eyes. Of course, she had come to fill the gap that her mother had left after dying. The thought that she had come to love Impa the same way that she had loved her real mother was something that Zelda had never forgiven herself for.

And yet here she was. Once more. Following Impa's voice, now that the memory of her mother had been destroyed. Ah, but the guilt. The guilt would remain.

Zelda gasped, seeing something green flickering in the distance.

 _'_ _You will be ok. You're doing fine,'_ said Impa's voice, a motherly whisper in her ears, and Zelda used all her strength to run into the soft green light.

A great expanse of grass opened up before her. And beyond, an emerald sea glittered under a bright sky with no sun.

Link waited there.

Zelda ran up to him, exhausted. "Link, is it you? Is it really you?" she asked, desperate to know that this wasn't another one of her memories, ready to burn into nothingness.

Link turned to her, a sad look in his eyes. "Zelda…How did you…? You shouldn't be here, Zelda. This is me."

Zelda wiped the tears off her eyes in a rage. "So it really is you. Link, I'm burning! There's something inside me. It's tearing me apart!"

Link nodded. "Farore said as much. When she took my body," he said.

Suddenly, everything fell into place for Zelda. "So they…they are taking us, because we have the triforce…," she whispered.

"I thought it was only me," said Link. "They created me, after all. But of course, they would take us all."

He kicked the surface of the green water. "I won't allow this Farore!" he shouted. Beneath the waters, Zelda could see the flickering lights of bright green flames, licking their way to the surface.

"No…No, Farore is burning you too?!" she asked.

"There isn't much to burn, but…yes," said Link in a whisper.

"We have to do something!" said Zelda, trying to grab Link's hand.

Link jerked away from here. "Don't touch me! That's too dangerous. Zelda, you have to go back. Go back and hold on for as long as you can. If you stay here, it will tear you apart before Nayru burns you completely."

"What? Just go back and _endure_? That's your plan? I'm sick of sitting in the sidelines and _enduring_. I had to wait for you for _seven years_. Seven. Years. You were just gone, when we needed you the most. The world crumbled before me, and you had gone to sleep. And I had to wait for you. That's all I could do. Wait and not die."

Link hung his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't be strong when you needed me. I'm sorry I…can't be stronger now. But please…know that I won't abandon you Zelda. Even now, I will fight until there is nothing left of me," he said, stepping deeper into the emerald sea, where Zelda could not follow him anymore.


	42. Chapter 42

Dark punched a wall. Who did Oni think he was? Saying something so stupid, and then vanishing away like a coward. Dark hated him. He hated him almost as much as he hated this stupid body of his, that didn't have a proper heart, just a stupid pretense of one. A pretense of a heart that did nothing but cause him pain. Nothing but shot him full of terror and despair."

"Why do I even care for this damn body?" he grumbled to himself, making his way out of the torn castle, walking over the debris left by Ganondorf's attack. "Why do I let this shitty fake heart hurt me?"

"It's not fake if it can feel," said a female voice behind him, and Dark almost jumped out of his own skin.

He whirled around to find a dark figure made entirely of shadows, with bright red eyes.

"Shit, Impa, what happened to you?" he asked.

Impa chuckled, but it was a pained laugh. "This is closer to…what I am now. I would appreciate it if you didn't let Sheik know that, though."

"Huh, sure. But what-?"

"I need you. I need you to go and save Sheik. The god will not save him in time if you don't. Please, I can't bear to let him die. I can transport you right into Ganondorf's location at the Temple, she said, raising a hand at him that dripped a black slime. The shadows pooling at her feet shifted, reaching out to Dark. "I will even…give you a weapon. But please, you have to help him."

A cold terror spread from Dark's heart, filling his chest at the thought of confronting Ganondorf again.

"Sure, send me," he said. "Come on, hurry up!"


	43. Chapter 43

Din's puppet had retreated into the Spirit temple. The fool thought he was stronger there. All the silly mortal attempts at increasing their power by ridiculous margins made Nayru roll her eyes. She was fed up with his wrecking of everything in this place. It was making Farore get out of control. She could hear the life goddess' whining even now. To wait until he could damage any more of Farore's creations would be unwise.

No, better to just deal with him now.

She strolled into the Spirit Temple.

"Who are you?" asked Ganondorf, standing in front of her. "Or rather, what are you? And how did you get into the princess' body?"

Nayru narrowed her eyes at him. Stupid questions from a stupid mortal. She lifted a hand at him, in turn lifting him in the air, and binding him in place.

She could hear the little half prince in the corner mumbling something as he came back to consciousness, but he was nothing she had to worry about. She had to free Din now. Still, Din might appreciate a little present. She walked up to the prince, and grabbed the bowl full of blood next to him. She could drain him completely, but she didn't feel that generous yet. The time for great celebrations and royal sacrifices would come once they had destroyed the Fierce Deity.

She lifted the bowl and let it fall into one of the torches next to Ganondorf. The smell of burning blood filling the temple made her hungry, but she ignored the demands of her vessel, and threw the bowl away.

She stood in front of Ganondorf and spread her feet, grounding physical vessel so that she could direct her full power straight into the core of the planet. She lifted her hands, digging, searching for the hot power that was Din's being. She followed the whispers of the law.

The law she had set in place to make sure that Din would not get out. She was there for fighting the Fierce Deity, and would continue to be there for as long as he was a prisoner on the moon.

But now he was out, mortal vessel or not, and all Nayru had to do to free Din was reach into the core, and let the law follow its course.

Din awoke from her fiery slumber, tearing the earth as she made her way up through the layers of the world. Nayru laughed.

On the corner, she could feel the weak power of the shadows pooling, and something arriving. The shadow of the hero, presented before her like a trophy in a silver plate. With him in their hands, they might not even have to battle the Fierce Deity. But the world would have to be remade after this was over, so what did it matter if they trashed it a little with a last battle?

"He's free!" roared Din, entering Ganondorf's body and floating back down when Nayru removed the bindings on her vessel. "How can he be free?!"

The heat from Din's power started to melt the stone where she stepped, and even the edge of Nayru's dress caught on fire for a moment before she gave it a stern look, and it stopped.

"He used Farore's vessel," explained Nayru. She looked to the entrance of the temple, and with a blink removed all her seals around it.

Oni was there in a second. "Coward," he muttered. His eyes drifted to the corner for a second to see the shadow reaching towards the prince, and his face contorted in rage.

The way fear and worry and anger all mixed up in his core made Nayru smirk. The fool hadn't burned out his vessel when he used it, and now here he was, acting like a stupid mortal. As if time, and pain, and a simple shadow were worth anything.

"You!" roared Din, and spoke Oni's true name. A word that shook the moon in its orbit, and made her vessel spit out blood.

"I see you're eager to finish our battle," said Oni. "I've been waiting too. Waiting for too long."

It had been too long. So long, in fact, that now the battle felt cold and lifeless to him.

"Come, let's fight," said Oni, letting himself drift backwards, away from the Spirit Temple.

Din growled like an animal, and followed him.


	44. Chapter 44

In the corner, Dark pulled Sheik up on his lap. He had lost a lot of blood, and he seemed to be flowing in and out of consciousness. There was no way he could save him on his own after he had lost so much blood, and Impa's power had been fully used in his one way trip to the Spirit Temple. He looked at the three gods staring each other down, and realized that the first thing he had to do was get Sheik and himself out of there before any of them remembered his presence. After all, he wasn't stupid. He remembered the fact that Oni had said they would love to get their hands on him and use him against Oni.

Getting out of there it was, then.

He tore pieces of his tunic to made a fast tourniquet and prevent Sheik from losing any more blood, then pulled him over his shoulder, and crawled slowly away, into one of the doors of the Spirit temple. Away from the scalding heat that seemed to be coming from Ganondorf.

"You!" roared the thing in Ganondorf's body that had turned his bright red hair to molten lava.

And Dark froze, fearing that he had been found.

But then the thing said a word. A word that Dark felt he had heard before. A horrific word that made his ears bleed, and he fell to the ground with Sheik on top of him.


	45. Chapter 45

"That fool!" cried Nayru, seeing Din chase after Oni as he tried to lead them away from the Temple. She stomped her foot, cracking the floor. "She's falling into his traps all over again."

She turned away from the entrance and went to the corner where the shadow was pushing himself up.

"But I won't," she said, grabbing the prince and tearing him away from the shadow, throwing him like a useless doll to the floor. She then grabbed the shadow and pulled his face up so he would look at him.

"Farore, where are you hiding?" she asked. "I know you can hear me. It's time you stand up for us."

Dark growled, and stomped his feet over the shadow that casted Zelda's body. The shadow awoke at once, raising to hold Nayru in a chokehold and pulling her away from Dark.

Dark called forth the shadows of all the monsters in the temple, raising them to contain the goddess. This was the weapon Impa had given him, and it was more than he could have bargained for.

Nayru shrieked in rage, tearing the shadows away from her. She couldn't push them away, as her power went through them, and Dark saw his moment. He pulled Sheik up and dragged him away. He had a half full red potion he had snatched from the castle before Impa sent him there, so he pulled it from his pocket and poured it into Sheik's mouth.

"Come on, wake up. If you spit it I'm gonna slap you," he hissed through his teeth, trying to will his hands to stop shaking.

The whole temple shook with Nayru's power, and Dark knew that they would not hold her back for long. But Sheik had enough power to transport them away, so he had better wake up fast.

A wall crumbled nearby, and Nayru stepped through. The shadows around her reached out with a thousand dark, clawed hands to stop her, but they could not hold her back.

"I will tear you apart and present you in pieces to him. That will be just as good," said Nayru with a smirk. She stepped forth, when the lights from the torches flickered in the room, and the shadows retreated.

"Zelda," said Impa's voice, echoing all around. "I know you're still there. Keep fighting Zelda!"

At the center, in front of Nayru, materialized Impa, all in black, with only a few streaks of gray through her hair.

Sheik coughed and opened his eyes. "M-mother?" he asked, blinking.

Dark pulled him up and let him lean all his weight on him. "Finally. Get us out of here," he said.

"Where are- what is-? Mom?! What happened to you?!"

"Sheik I'm serious, we have to get out of here!"

But Impa wasn't looking at them. She focused completely on Zelda's cold purple eyes.

Nayru lifted an eyebrow at her. "What a nuisance," she said. "You should not be allowed a physical form. Fade away with the other souls into the death world."

She lifted a hand at her. And froze.

A flash of blue passed through Nayru's eyes. Just a second.

Impa turned to Sheik and Dark. "Go away! Sheik, run!" she shouted.

A flash of purple filled the room.

"Burn!" yelled Nayru, as purple flames surrounded her. They seemed to burn away all color from Zelda's body. Her bright blonde hair turned completely white, and even her skin lost all color. Only the purple of Nayru's eyes remained.

Dark shook Sheik's shoulders. "Get us out of here Sheik! Now!"

Sheik gasped, and blinked away the tears in his eyes as he casted the spell that should take them back to the temple of time in a flash.


	46. Chapter 46

Nayru swatted Impa away, but Sheik and Dark were already gone. An annoyance, but they could not escape her all seeing eyes.

But now, she had to deal with a greater annoyance. One she had been ignoring.

She closed her eyes and descended into Zelda's mind. She was still there. Still enduring despite the way Nayru had burned her self down to nothing.

"You, the most loyal of my vessels," said Nayru, approaching her. "Ah, but a mortal's loyalty is as flighty as their little hearts."

Zelda gritted her teeth and balled her fists. "A heart is all I have, but it's enough for me," she said. "Surely you know it. You gave it to me. You ruled for it to beat in my chest. Why can't you see how much it hurts me now?!"

Zelda jumped at her, to stop her and expel her from her mind.

All she had now was herself.

But it was enough.


	47. Chapter 47

Oni dodged Din's attacks again and again. He backed away from the Temple of Spirit, and felt something strange and almost painful in his heart when he realized that Nayru was not following too.

He tried to stretch his awareness back towards the spirit temple, to find out what was happening there. He knew the shadow wouldn't listen to him when he told him that he should not get close to the temple, but how had he arrived at the temple so fast? And how had he gotten past Nayru's shields? He had almost reached sight of the Spirit Temple with his mind, when his wounds opened up. The bindings that kept his vessel together loosening and forcing him to fall down on the ground.

"You disrespect me with your weakness," said Din, crushing the earth with every step she took. Her presence burned out trees and grass and incinerated the very earth, leaving nothing but barren dirt beneath her feet.

Oni felt something prickling on the back of his mind, something like the whisper of a lamentation for this earth. A remainder of Link's love for this land. Unsurprising, as he was a child of Farore, and probably infused with as much of her love for the land that she had.

Truly, he had picked the worst vessel he could. Here he was, fighting in the battle that he had desired from the very start of time, and he was worried about _grass_. He was wishing he could know if a _shadow_ was ok, and whether or not he was afraid and in pain, and he felt so stupid and weak, he almost couldn't bear it.

A gust of wind with the smell of coming rain fell over them, and a bright green figure appeared between them.

"Stop!" shouted Farore, wearing Link's body.

Oni growled, annoyed that she dared to use the original vessel he wore.

And yet, when he heard her voice, it seemed to be entwined with Link's voice in a way that Nayru's and Din's voices weren't. As if Link and Farore spoke as one. And when he looked at her eyes, he saw they were still blue, but shone with a green fire.

"Your battles should take place in heaven," said Farore. "Not on the earth we created. All these lives your games have cut short…They were mine! Ours! Din, this is the earth you made with your very hands. If I knew you wished to build a battleground, I would have left it barren," she pointed to the gray ashes underneath Din's feet.

Oni pushed himself up. "My vessel is unworthy," he said, looking straight at Din. "I have been waiting for this battle for eons. I refuse to disgrace it by fighting with this."

Din stepped forward and grabbed Oni by his tunic, lifting him a few feet off the ground and studying the wounds in his vessel. She growled and let him fall down.

"This is no way to have a honorable battle," she said. "I would rather destroy the moon than win it back with such a mockery of a battle."

"I will create a worthy vessel," said Oni, despite the fact that he had the growing worry that he now wouldn't want a vessel that looked different from this one.

"You better," said Din, turning away. "You have an age to do so. Or I will create one for you, and drag you to the heavens to fight me."

A ray of thunder fell on Din, crackling with power, and she vanished along with her vessel.

Oni narrowed his eyes at that. "Is she going to keep that vessel? For an age?" he asked.

Farore shrugged. "Maybe she likes it. Like you like yours. Like I like Link," she said, looking down at Link's body with a sad smile. "I'm sorry I had to take him. I wish I could have avoided it."

Oni grunted. "Just leave before you damage him more," he said, grabbing at Link's arm.

Farore giggled. "Oh, just a few days with the mortals and now you have a heart? How lovely," she said, and left.

Link's body fell limp like a rag doll inn Oni's arms, and he had to let go of his sword to carry him.

Now, to look for the shadow.

And everything else, of course.

But first the shadow.


	48. Chapter 48

Sheik's power landed them at the heart of the Spirit Temple.

"I can't," said Sheik, pulling away from Dark. "Stay here, I have…I have to go back and help Impa."

"Help Impa how?!" asked Dark, pulling Sheik back. "She's dead! All she wants is for you to not be dead too!"

Sheik slapped him across the face. "You don't understand!" he yelled. "I have to go back. My mother, and…Zelda, she said I was her brother!"

"You are, and guess what? She wants you to not be dead too!"

Sheik kicked him in the stomach and ran away, vanishing in a flash of light.

"F-Fuck," whined Dark, clutching at his stomach. He pulled himself up and ran after him. How did Link ever manage to deal with that guy? Emotions made fools of mortals, it seemed.

He stopped to breathe, touched the place in his chest where his fake heart pumped pure fear and worry out to his body, and then kept running.

Hearts were only good to make fools of everyone. Fuck hearts is what he thought.

The Spirit Temple shook. Whatever was going on with Nayru could not be good. Dark ran through hallways, jumping over traps and climbing through the other shadows. He could not be sure where Sheik or Zelda (or that _thing_ wearing Zelda's body) were exactly, so he had to go through every room, following the sounds of something shaking the earth.

He went back towards the entrance, still on the lookout for Sheik, when he ran straight into something that had most definitely _not_ been there a second ago. He jumped backwards.

"You're alright. Good," said a deep voice.

Dark rubbed at his nose. "Oni? What happened?" he asked, noticing that he was carrying an unconscious and battered Link on his shoulder.

"Lots. Here, have Link," said Oni, handing Link over to Dark.

"Fuck your explanations. What's that shit? We almost died!"

"I told you to stay back," said Oni, with the same tone that one would use while talking to a five year old.

Which was alright with Dark, because he felt like acting like a five year old.

"That was stupid! Sheik almost died! And then that thing inside Zelda's body is chasing us and-" said Dark.

Oni put his finger to Dark's lips to silence him. "She's not chasing you anymore. Stay here. Sheik approaches. I will deal with Nayru."

And with that, Dark realized he was suddenly alone, and carrying an unconscious Link in his arms. He bit his lower lip. What a good pair of useless heroes they made. An unconscious and defeated one, and a weak and defeated one.

Either way, they were both pretty shitty heroes.

He let Link down to lie on the floor and put his green cap under his head. All of Link's clothes looked burnt on the edges. There were even strange scars around his eyes. And of course, all the wounds he had gotten from his battle with Ganondorf must still be there. Dark looked down at Link's left wrist. He couldn't feel whether it was still broken or not, and didn't want to move it and make it worse.

Soft footsteps approached, and Sheik rounded a corner to find Dark and Link on the ground. He gasped.

"What happened to him?!" he asked, looking at Link.

"No idea, stay with him," said Dark, jumping into the shadows and rushing away from them.

No way was Sheik going to leave Link alone. That was a good way to keep them together and out of harm's way.

Guilt could be so useful.


	49. Chapter 49

Oni went back to the entrance of the Spirit Temple, where he found Nayru and Zelda locked in battle inside Zelda's mind. He lifted an eyebrow in surprise. That was far more than he had ever expected from a mortal.

It seemed mortals could still surprise him. He wasn't happy about that. At all.

He walked up to Zelda's frozen body and extended a hand above her face, using his power to drag Nayru out of the vessel slowly.

It would be much simpler to sever their connection by getting rid of the piece of the triforce she had, but he was sure neither Zelda nor Link would appreciate it if he cut off Zelda's hands.

Slowly it was, then.


	50. Chapter 50

The green sea of Link's mind had flamed up for a few terrifying moments. Everything around him burning and flaring. From the grass at the edges of it, to the sand that whispered under his feet, and even to the soft dark memories that floated deep on the sea. Chunks of his memories were gone. Feelings, conversations, tastes. There wasn't much left of some memories, and Link wondered if there had been any reason as to why his memory of Zelda's laughter had survived, when the feeling of Saria's hands on his hair had not.

"There isn't," said a voice, echoing from the pale blue sky above Link's sea.

"Will I recover them?" asked Link, wadding deeper into the waters, until they reached his shoulders.

"No. But some you can build anew. The wounds that my presence in your body has caused cannot be healed," said Farore. "I know it's not much. But, thank you. An unwilling vessel would have made everything harder."

 _'An unwilling vessel,'_ thought Link, mulling over her choice of words. Perhaps this was as far as a Goddess' mercy reached.

"It is not," said Farore.

"My mind has become a very public place lately," said Link, delighting in the sarcasm filling his voice.

"It has," said Farore, with an amused giggle that Link didn't find cute at all. "But it has always been so for me."

"Don't. Stop."

"I have been able to see the inner workings of your mind."

"I did _not_ want to know that. Geez, do Gods not have privacy?"

"No."

"Ah, that's good to know," said Link.

It was, honestly, not good to know.

"I know how unhappy you are, so before I return to the heavens with Nayru, as thanks to your unending courage, I would like to grant you a wish. If it is within the law for me to give it to you, I will."

"My unending courage? That's funny. All these years, I thought you had gotten the wrong hero," said Link. "You should have gotten someone who felt no fear."

"Someone who feels no fear cannot feel courage. It is only when fear strikes at your heart that you can be courageous. And you, who stood firm while the fear surrounded you, are the greatest, most courageous Hero who has ever lived."

Link closed his eyes. He had never felt like a Hero. He had never felt courageous. And yet, Farore told him that he was the greatest Hero of all.

He sank into the green sea. How did greatness feel? Like this? If he survived this. If everything miraculously was saved and the entirety of time and space didn't crash into each other, he was probably going back home to have dinner by himself. Maybe with Dark, if he survived too. But of course he was going to survive, right? As long as Link was alive, Dark _must_ be alive. That was a comforting thought. And Oni too. _He_ was definitely going to survive too, what with being a God and not technically alive in the first place so no possible death there either.

And Sheik.

That was his wish.

"I want for Sheik to stay," said Link, from the depths of the green sea.

Farore did not answer.


	51. Chapter 51

By the time Dark arrived at the temple entrance, Oni had almost finished tearing Nayru out of Zelda's body. It looked like he pulled a bright purple ghost out of her, and Dark might be worried that that might indeed be Zelda. But he recognized the energy emanating from it as the same that he had seen through Oni's visions the other night.

And of course, there was the screaming.

A high pitched, echoing scream of rage made up by hundreds of different voices. And it was coming from within Zelda's body.

The walls started cracking. The whole structure of the temple breaking.

"Take her away!" yelled Oni, snapping Dark's attention from the cracks on the ceiling of the entrance.

Zelda's body fell to the ground, limp and unconscious.

And the Earth shook.

Dark fell to the ground even as he tried to run at Zelda. The earth moved and cracked under him. The pillars holding the ceiling fell down like a sandcastle before the wind.

And yet the screaming continued. From the thing that Oni held in his hands.

But how could you contain a goddess?


	52. Chapter 52

Sheik tried to catch Dark before he ran away, but his hands caught only flickers of the torchlight. He kicked the wall.

"Damn your shadow!" he yelled.

Link did not move.

Sheik knelt down next to him and checked for a pulse immediately. He found a very faint one, and breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to keep looking for Impa and Zelda, but he couldn't leave Link like that.

 _'Stay_ ,' said a soft voice. Like a whisper that echoed through the empty hallway. Sheik looked around, listening for any movement.

"Mother?" he asked, despite knowing full well that it hadn't been his mother's voice.

Still, he wanted to hope.

 _'Stay. Mortals have so very little time, and he wants to spend it with you,'_ said the voice again, and Sheik realized that the sound seemed to arrive directly into his mind. The smell of the forest drifted through the hallway. The scent of fresh leaves under your feet and of the winds from mid spring.

"Who are you?" asked Sheik, his hand already carrying his knives.

The triforce on Link's left hand shone bright green. _'I'm sorry. For what I have done to him. But if you stay, he will not survive. He must be taken to the temple of Light. Do not stay here, or you both will meet only in heaven.'_

The name Farore appeared in Sheik's mind, and he knelt down next to Link again, shaking his shoulder.

"Link, wake up," he said, but Link didn't react.

"Come on, wake up!" he tried again, shaking him harder.

It was no use. Link was completely out of it, and Sheik didn't have anything on him to bring him back to consciousness.

He didn't want to leave for the temple of Light when Zelda and Impa were still out there somewhere, probably in danger.

No, definitely in danger, if what the voice said was true.

_'You will meet only in heaven'_

Oh, but the crack between timelines was still there. Sheik had not forgotten about that. And there was no hope of heaven for him.

A tinkling sound made Sheik jump to his feet, ready to fight. Something hovered nearby, carrying a lamp. It approached them with short, tinkling steps, covered by a ragged white shroud.

"I've found you. I'm so happy," the being said with a soft female voice that Sheik did not recognize. He tried to get a look at her face, but the shroud casted shadows over it.

"Who are you?" asked Sheik.

The temple shook with more force, and dust fell on them. He looked down at Link, but he hadn't moved.

"Come, you need to come to the barrier," she said, motioning for Sheik to follow her with a pale, thin hand.

Another earthquake shook the temple, and a few rocks fell from the ceiling. Sheik pulled Link's body on his back and hurried to follow the woman.

"Are you a spirit from this temple?" asked Sheik, breathless despite the slow pace they kept. He had a vague awareness that he had lost a lot of blood, but wasn't sure what exactly had happened between being captured by Ganondorf and suddenly waking up here.

"I am a spirit, yes," said the woman, leading them to the statue of the Gerudo at the center of the temple, where Sheik had woken up.

No, where Link had rescued him.

Now he wished Link hadn't done anything. He wished he had been erased from existence cleanly and without pain. Not knowing that his mother was dead, not wondering exactly how he was Zelda's brother. (Oh, but he had a very good idea how _that_ had happened, and he wished Impa had trusted him with that secret.)

"Hurry, my body is beneath the altar," said the spirit, running with tiny steps towards the altar where Sheik had been in. "That is why her spell was so perfect. She used us both and didn't know it. But one of us will do."

Sheik let Link down on the floor softly, making sure he wouldn't hurt his head.

"I see, your Highness," said Sheik, looking at the spirit.

She laughed. "That sounds so strange now," she said, holding her lamp as long strands of bright golden hair fell among the ragged funeral shroud that she wore.

Sheik knelt next to the altar, looking for something he could pull out. "This is…an awkward meeting. Please excuse my-"

"Oh, stop it Sheik. I know how awkward it is," the late queen said, and Sheik could almost hear her smile, despite the fact that her face was still covered in shadows. "Impa is too good at keeping secrets. She always was. But…I'm in debt to her. For caring for my family. For loving my husband as much as I did. For… everything."

Sheik found a handle on the altar, and pulled it with all his strength.

The queen's body was indeed there, covered by a pure white shroud just like her spirit wore.

"Place it on the altar," ordered the queen, and Sheik did as he was told. "Now, I need to cast the spell. But I need a body to do so. Would you be so kind?" she asked, giving Sheik her lamp.

It felt warm to the touch. Warm and comforting like a winter night at home, next to the heart.


	53. Chapter 53

Sheik saw his body move as if he was seeing a vision from afar. His hands moved of their own accord as the Queen's spirit casted the spell to tie the barrier to her body.

Earthquakes shook the temple again and again. A pillar at the end of the hall crumbled, and along with it fell part of the ceiling. Sheik wanted to look to the side, to see if Link was ok, or if he had come back to consciousness.

 _'_ _It will only take a moment now,'_ said the queen, placing the lamp she carried over her covered body.

Sheik wished he could close his eyes. He felt like he was defacing something holy.

 _'_ _I will remain here. Please tell Zelda that I love her. That I'll love her forever,'_ said the Queen.

Sheik could not say anything. Even separating his thoughts from the Queen's will was almost impossible for him. But he would do so. Whatever happened, he would deliver the message.

Sheik heard his voice speaking. It said words that he could not understand, with a complete confidence. He could feel the power building in his hands, running through his body.

There was a scream, and the spirit of the Queen was ripped away from his body, into the shield. Sheik fell forward, hitting his head against the solid shield encasing the altar, and the ground shook with such force that the floor cracked all around the altar. He jumped back on his feet even as the ground shook again. He saw Link still lying on the floor, completely out of it and covered by dust and debris. He ran up to him and shook him, but it was useless. He wouldn't come back to his senses. Sheik sat down on the floor even as the temple crumbled fast around them. It would not last long. He had no more time to look for Impa, or Zelda.

The walls started to collapse.

He had to save Link.

He took out his battered harp. He had barely enough power left.


	54. Chapter 54

For what it was worth, Oni gave Nayru a good trashing, and even managed to throw her out of the Spirit Temple.

The bad news was that the temple was collapsing in itself, and the entrance had been blocked by huge chunks of the ceiling that had fallen on it.

And Link and Sheik were still inside the Temple somewhere. But hopefully Sheik had finally come to his senses and taken Link out of there. Dark closed his eyes, but the mind bond with Link was still sealed off. He sensed the magic emanating from the block between them, and knew right away it was Oni's doing.

Zelda stirred in Dark's arms, and Dark had to pull himself out of their mind space. He could drag Zelda out of the Temple by taking her through the shadow world like he had done with Link, but she was weak and despite her lack of injuries, he was sure she had gotten a few invisible injuries after being possessed by Nayru, just like Link was completely out of it from being possessed by Farore. Even Link, fully rested and healthy, had barely made it through the shadow realm for a few moments. He wasn't ready to take that risk with Zelda.

"Hey, can you stand up?" asked Dark, looking at the boulders blocking the exit. If he tried really hard, and called the shadows with the power that Impa had given him, he might have a chance of making a small exit that they could use to squeeze through. Although by the sounds of the fighting outside, and the near constant earthquakes, that wasn't the best of ideas. Still, he didn't want to ask Zelda to perform any kind of magic right now.

Zelda slapped him across the face. "Don't touch me!" she yelled.

The strength of the blow made Dark fall down on his ass and let go of her. Zelda scrambled away from him, but didn't have the strength to get up, so she crouched on the floor, ready to strike.

"Hey, calm down!" said Dark. "Look, I'm on your side. We have to get out of here."

Zelda looked around her. "The Spirit Temple? Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

"I didn't bring you here! You came here on your own. Or, uhmm, well Nayru was in control of the body at the time, so I guess Nayru brought you here."

Zelda held her head. "N-Nayru…I remember. We fought, and then we… I…," she said.

Dark went up to her and tried to help her get up. She was strangely cold for a mortal. "Come on. We have to get you out of here. The temple is about to fall down on us," he said.

"You're Link's shadow. What happened to Ganondorf?" asked Zelda, leaning on Dark's shoulder.

"Hell if I know. Din took him away, but I think Oni fought her off. I dunno. Come, stay here while I try to open a spot through the entrance," said Dark, letting her lean against a crumbled piece of the stairs at the entrance. He didn't want to let her sit down while pieces of the ceiling were still falling all around them. She was quick enough on her feet to avoid the debris, even as exhausted as she was.

But the Spirit Temple fell fast, and every shock from the battle outside shook the foundations even more.

Dark called forth as many shadows as he could, but he felt that the power Impa had given him was fading. His hold on the shadows slipped, and he could feel them rebelling, lashing at him.

"Ugh, Impa's power is dimming. She must be using it all on keeping the barrier up," said Dark. Still, a few shadows obeyed him, and they slowly wedged in between the rocks blocking the entrance. He stopped trying to call any stronger shadows, and instead went on to try to pull out the rocks himself.

"You're not with Ganondorf," said Zelda, in a low voice barely audible over the falling debris.

"Told you I was not. But whatever. Blame the shadow for everything," muttered Dark. He kept pulling out rocks, but he wasn't making much way.

Zelda pushed herself away from the stairs and went on to help Dark. "But why? Why are you trying to help me? I know you can get out on your own," she asked, helping Dark push a boulder away from the entrance. It wouldn't budge.

"Hey, you said it yourself," said Dark. A part of the ceiling collapsed on the last couple remaining torches, and an absolute darkness fell over them. "I'm his shadow. I want to save people too."

The Spirit temple shook. The pillars crumbled, and the entire structure fell.


	55. Chapter 55

"Saving people? That's such a silly excuse," said a white voice.

Dark groaned, his head swirling as he wondered why he thought that a voice could have a color. Much less white. And yet, he felt like it did.

Dark opened his eyes, and found himself lying on the pristine white floor of a completely white room with fountains of clear transparent water flowing all around. He sat up and looked at the pillars with water flowing through them. He realized he was on the moon.

He laid back down with a groan.

"I'd better not be _really_ in the moon, you know," he said, his voice echoing across the bare white walls.

"If I hadn't brought you here, you would have been so hurt that the hero would drag you with him to death," said Oni's disembodied voice.

But Dark knew that was bullshit, because he could have taken them anywhere in the world. Anywhere.

He hopped up on his feet. He felt light, like he could breathe and start floating off. Nearby, he saw a large bed with a fluffy white comforter, and something small and golden in it. He took a couple cautious steps towards the bed, not wanting to get too close.

It was Zelda. A tiny Zelda, no more than five years old. It took a couple of shocked moments for Dark to process what he was seeing.

"W-What?" he said, taking a step backwards.

And then Oni was there, standing next to him. A white figure, reminiscing of the vessel he used on earth, and yet completely different. He looked like Link. Like a tall, broader Link with white hair and skin and eyes. There wasn't a single spot color on him.

"I have projected this form so that you could be more familiar with me," said Oni, but he didn't move his mouth. His voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Can you stop that thing?" asked Dark, feeling a shiver go down his back. "It's creepy. Talk with your mouth like a normal person."

Oni lifted an eyebrow. "I forget how important these details are for you mortals."

"And I keep forgetting you're a god," said Dark, then he turned to Zelda, who slept peacefully on the bed. "And that…why did you do that to her?"

"I did nothing to her. Because she is Nayru's vessel, I could not bring her here, and I could not save her body. Farore is making her a new one now, and she left what was left of her spirit here," said Oni.

Dark gasped. "What was _left_? Shit, what did Nayru do to her?"

"She tried to burn her out. A normal mortal's body would burn faster than their spirit. But because they were chosen to be the vessels for the Goddesses', they were designed so that their bodies would not burn away. Their spirits though, were just like any other mortal's, and sustained heavy damage from the direct contact with their divine power. This one more than the others," said Oni, pointing at Zelda. "Because she fought against Nayru. Her spirit should have been destroyed, but she was stronger than expected."

"So Farore just grabbed her spirit and dropped her off at your house like nothing while she patched her a new body?" said Dark, trying to not sound hysterical.

"She pacified Nayru after I defeated her, and sent the princess' spirit here after I brought you with me when I was forced to leave the earth. Farore commands life, but even she cannot go against the law. Once the gates of death have been crossed, you cannot live again. She had to separate the princess from her body before she died."

"But the sages-"

"The spirits of the sages have been absorbed by the temples, so they have not and will never, be able to cross the gates of death. Nayru almost sent the shadow sage to the death world, but she didn't change her laws, so the shadow sage must be recovering at the temple."

"Oh. That's good I guess. What happened to Link? I mean, you tell me he's alive because so am I but I hope he's not lying in a ditch somewhere, because then he's gonna whine about it for fucking forever," said Dark, going through all the events in his mind. "Wait. What happened to Sheik? Where is he? Get me back to earth. That crack between timelines is still there and Sheik's gonna do something really stupid, I just know it."

Oni narrowed his eyes at him. "Sheik fixed the barrier. It is up and the timelines are blocked from one another again."

"Nooo!" yelled Dark, and hit Oni's chest. "Fuck, why didn't you stop him?!"

Oni took a very deep, and very unnecessary breath. "Why do you care about him? It is Link who is in love with him."

"What the hell are you even talking about? I'm Link too. I love him too, of course I fucking care, you jackass!"

Oni glared down at him. "Really? You do love him?" he asked.

Dark blinked, and suddenly Sheik was in front of him. All dirty hair and mask half falling off. He stepped closer and draped his arms around Dark's neck. His skin felt warm, his breath smelled of that odd cinnamon scent that always seemed to float around him, and even his hair tickled Dark's nose.

"No, don't do this you bastard," complained Dark, trying to push him away, while his little pretence of a heart started pumping pure disgust. "I know this isn't him."

"This is him," said Sheik's image, with his exact same voice. His face too close to Dark. "And you are not in love with him. You are in love with the idea of being Link, who is in love with him."

"I'm _not_ ," said Dark through gritted teeth.

"I have brought him here for you," said a white voice, echoing through the empty white space around them.

"Liar. You did not. He would never do this," said Dark.

Sheik grabbed his face, and gave him a cold smirk. "Ahh, you're disgusted. You see? Why do you try so hard to like mortals like this, when they repulse you so?"

"Stop this, because I'm about to start being repulsed by your lying jerk ass too," said Dark.

Sheik chuckled. Then he blinked, and disappeared.

"You _have got_ to stop doing freaky god shit like that. Now, when are we going back to the world?" asked Dark.

"Zelda will go back when Farore completes the new body she needs to live in," said Oni's voice from behind Dark.

Dark whirled around, and found Oni sitting next to one of the pools of crystalline water.

"As for you," continued Oni, keeping his gaze on the water, even as Dark sat down next to him. "I haven't yet decided."

"What does that even mean?" asked Dark.

He didn't like how weird Oni was acting. He much preferred him as a bulky and obtuse guy who stumbled to not hit his head on low ceilings, not like this almost omnipotent jerk who seemed to look down on them.

"It means that I want to keep you. It means that despite the fact that I know that you can't ever possibly love Sheik the way the hero loves him, I still despise how desperately you wish you did," said Oni, turning to look at Dark with his completely white eyes that seemed capable of looking right into the bottom of Dark's fake heart. "It means that even though I don't have a vessel with the capacity to feel anything for you, I still do."

They stayed in silence for a few moments, as the words paled and faded into the whiteness around them.

"How?" asked Dark. "How can you feel anything for anyone?"

"The same way you do," said Oni, with his mouth curning slightly into a smirk. "With your everything. Beings like us…We feel with everything we are, because we don't have a soul, or a heart that connects to it."

"But like…how does it _feel?_ "

Oni hummed for a moment. "In terms that you could understand…It would be like envisioning your existence as the center of my focus. Forever. And being happy with it."

Dark nodded, and let his head fall on Oni's shoulder. "That's not very romantic."

"Romance is a very mortal thing. Us? We exist. And I want to exist with you. It's an annoying thing. I haven't wanted anything since before Nayru desired first. If I ever desired something, it was the return to the start of our existence. I suppose I understand Nayru now."

"Please tell me that you're not going to go crazy like her," said Dark with a playful tone.

"I won't. You are a considerably more innocent thing to desire."

"Uhuh. Look, I'm not a thing. That's one of the things we gotta keep straight since now. I'm a person. And you can't _keep_ me, like some kind of cat. But I like what you said," Dark grabbed Oni's hand, entwining their fingers. "About just being. Together."


	56. Chapter 56

Sheik's powers were nowhere near Zelda's. His mother had told him once, in passing, that the strength of the magical power from the royal family lied on the female side of it.

He mused on those things as he made his way out of the remains of the Temple of Time, carrying Link on his back. For once, his small amounts of magical power had been enough. For Link at least.

He looked up at the gray sky. The cracks running through it were gone.

He realized that, in a way, he had helped to save the world.

It was a strange, simple feeling. Not the overwhelming joy he used to dream about when they were hiding from Ganondorf's forces.

Just a strange kind of inner peace.

"Finally," whispered Sheik with a deep sigh.

"So it worked?" asked Link.

Sheik startled. "You're awake?" he asked, moving to the side of the road that led to the castle and letting him down.

"I'm back," said Link, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. "Farore released me only now. Do you know why?"

"What? I…I'm afraid I was unconscious for most of the time since Ganondorf kidnapped me," said Sheik, unable to stop his shame from showing through his voice.

"Ganondorf captured you?!" said Link, reaching for Sheik. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

Sheik couldn't help but smile at Link's concern. He held his hand, but Link's hands trailed up his arms to touch Sheik's face.

"I'm fine, just a little tired," said Sheik, not wanting to retell the story of being slowly drained for his blood. "And you? Are you hurt? Why do you keep your eyes closed?"

Link smiled. "Well, it's kind of a funny thing," he said, opening his eyes. His bright blue eyes had turned a pale shade of gray.

But it wasn't funny, and Sheik would have slapped him, if he wasn't so busy crying.


	57. Chapter 57

Sheik spent the next few days drifting mad hope that Zelda was alright, and cold pragmatism that told him that Hyrule could not go on without someone to take the reins. Already, factions demanding to know who he was and who was now in line for the throne had come forth demanding answers.

Sheik had wanted to kick them out. The princess had not yet been declared dead. He felt like these people wanted to be done with his sister right away.

Only Link kept him from losing his calm.

He came forth wielding the master sword, and along with the sages that still retained the strength to project a physical form, had taken his title as Hero of Time to hold the throne in the meantime before Zelda came back.

"The upside is that I can't see their angry glares," said Link after his first appearance at court.

Farore's power had burned out his sight, and most of his memories.

"Stop joking about that," said Sheik.

" _You_ stop being all mopey about that," said Link, unbuttoning his white court jacket. "I think I got the best deal in the vessel game. I mean, yeah, I'm bummed about not being able to play on the archery range anymore, but otherwise I'd say I'm alright."

"You won't be able to fight anymore. And your childhood in the Kokiri forest…It's gone…," said Sheik.

"Saria will have a great time telling me all about it, I'm sure. Really Sheik, I don't want you to keep blaming yourself for this," said Link, reaching out to him.

Sheik let him hold his hand. "How can I not? If I hadn't been so angry, so suspicious…"

"Then you would not be here, and my eyes wouldn't make up for that."

A loud clapping startled both of them. "Ahh, look at those cute love birds!" yelled Dark, and whistled at them. Zelda, sitting perched at a windowsill next to him, hit him slightly on the side of the head.

They hadn't been there a moment ago. Sheik was sure of it. And yet he hadn't felt any spells around.

Zelda jumped off the window sill and smoothed the creases on her plain green dress. Sheik ran up to her, hugging her before she could say anything.

"Your highness! You're back!" he said, trying to hold back tears and failing miserably. Holding her made something in his heart overflow. "I was so worried."

"You didn't believe me," said Link with a laugh, walking up to them with slow steps. He hadn't yet gotten used to walking with a cane.

Zelda stood still for a moment, and then returned Sheik's hug. "I'm sorry," she said with a hoarse, strange voice.

"Your Highness? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Zelda shook her head. "No. I'm fine. Just…getting used to- Uhmm, it's a long story. It doesn't matter," she said. She looked over to Link. "You lost your sight?"

"Nothing essential," said Link, but his smile had vanished. "And you? Your memories?"

"It's…weird. My memory was completely gone. Through my energy still left in the spells that bind the timelines apart I could see most of the past events as an outsider. Your shadow filled me in some other details, and the Fierce Deity in others. Everything has been falling into place slowly in my mind. Well, most of it. I know who I am, at the least. Everything else was destroyed."

"Everything else?" asked Sheik.

It was indeed a long story. One that took all night and a lot of tears. Mainly from Sheik.

All from Sheik, actually.


	58. Chapter 58

Link could not wait to get rid of his title and of the responsibility to lead Hyrule.

"I hate it when bards end stories with 'And then he became king. And he was the best king.' That's nonsense. Killing the bad guy doesn't suddenly make you capable of drafting tax bills," said Link, changing into his green tunic. "And kinging is almost all bill drafting."

"You were Zelda's placeholder for like, five days," laughed Sheik. It still felt weird to call the princess by her name. Even weirder to think of her as his sister.

And weirdest of all, to have to dress up as a prince now. He missed his mask.

"More than enough for me to want to not have anything to do with it," said Link, putting on his cap.

"What will you do now? Where will you go?" asked Sheik.

"I don't know," said Link, reaching for his cane. "I'll find something to do, sadly. It's part of the Hero deal. Stuff just finds you like that. You're in bed, and a fairy comes to tell you you're the chosen one. Or you're at home and suddenly your embodied shadow arrives demanding dinner. It happens."

"I would much prefer it if you stayed," said Sheik.

"Sheik, seriously, I'm not good with politics. I'm especially bad with getting political things done, and people make me anxious, let's not even talk about court appearances," said Link, getting up. "I wish I could be a hero like the ones in the tales, who love to parade and rule. But I'm just me."

Sheik embraced him, burying his face against Link's neck. "I don't want you to go," he said, his voice muffled.

Link felt the wetness of his tears against his skin.

"Just go with him already," said Zelda from the door, glaring at the both of them.

Sheik startled, and let go of Link.

Zelda leaned against the doorframe. It wasn't until days later that Sheik had started to see the differences in her. She was still herself, as strong and wise and decisive as always. And yet, sometimes, her face seemed so different, that it made shivers run down Sheik's back.

"But- I…," said Sheik.

"You're the prince now. You can do whatever you want," said Zelda, with a half smile. "And you're not very good at socializing, I have to say."

"I work better from the shadows," said Sheik.

Zelda nodded. "I know. Sheik, I have already taken so much away from you. Please, don't feel like you are tied down by your duties now. Go live out the years I stole from you."

"Zelda…you did what you had to do. I was angry, but…I understand, and I don't hold it against you," said Sheik, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I would have done the same thing in your place."

"It's almost like you both are related or something," joked Link, and got punched by both of them, because now he was immune to disapproving glares.


	59. Chapter 59

Sheik did go live with Link. He kept saying that Dark was going to poison him with his cooking if he didn't, and Link just let it be. He was peacefully excited about going back to the stillness and the silence of his house. But he was also excited about not being alone with his own thoughts. He had to admit that Dark was a good counterpoint to the casual gloom that tended to overtake him most days.

It was a long time before he realized that Oni was coming back too.

Dark tended to avoid the topic, with his words and his thoughts. He avoided it so much that it turned to that Big Thing taking space within their shared mindspace that they were mutually ignoring.

"You're becoming the crush obsessed teenager that I always wanted to be," said Link, climbing to the roof of the house, where Dark lied down to look at the moon.

"You used to make up stories in your head where Sheik was actually a vampire," said Dark, not taking his eyes away from the sky. "Don't you come to tell me I'm the lovestruck teen. I can't even be in love."

"There you go again."

"I don't go anywhere. I've always been here, in evil shadow land."

Link lied down next to him and closed his eyes. "Let me borrow your eyes," he said, holding Dark's hand.

"Tsk, you're so annoying."

"I miss the sky."

"Whiny _and_ annoying," muttered Dark. He pouted, but he let their minds entwine anyway, and felt Link's presence in his head, bright and oppressive, and smelling faintly of recent rain.

"Why did you come to me? When you escaped the shadow realm," asked Link.

Dark shrugged. "There was nowhere else to go, I guess. Ganondorf didn't want me, and I am a shadow so the world at large didn't want me either. I figured you didn't want me either, but you were a good guy, so you wouldn't get rid of me as long as I didn't piss you off."

"You did piss me off."

"You shut your mouth if you want to keep using the eyes."

Link laughed, and let go of Dark's hand. "Nah. You keep staring at the moon and it's annoying," he said, smiling. "What do we have to do to get him to come back?"

"He said he needed a new vessel. I figure he must be working on it. Which means he's bullshitting it, because it took Farore no time to be done with Zelda's new body. And by the way, Zelda's an adult. I don't see why the hell I had to 'accompany' her back down from the Moon. I mean she could walk to the beaming down thing on her own. But whatever, I mean he's the God here, so if he wants to push me out of the way with some bullshit excuse, I don't even care," said Dark.

Link had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from telling Dark that did care. He cared so much, Link could feel the waves of ' _why are you not here'_ radiating from him.

Link sat up. "Ok, fine. But if you want to stop _not caring,_ you can come down and have dinner with us," he said, and went back down into the house.

Dark stayed on the roof for a while more. Glaring at the moon and muttering curses at it.


	60. Chapter 60

The thing about a divine vessel though, was that it had to be created to withstand divine power.

Zelda's body was created to age and feel, but Oni's body had to be created to resonate with the power of battle which comprised his divine essence.

It could be made of Link's blood, and tied to his spirit, the way the last one had been, but Farore strongly opposed it. She had damaged him too much, and his spirit might not take well to another visitor. If a Legendary Hero's blood could not be used, the next best thing would be the center of stars.

And that took time.

Especially when Farore refused to hurry and spent too much time working on what Oni thought were ridiculous details, such as the right shade of gray for his hair, or the colored streaks that ran through his face.

"Stop decorating it!" cried Oni.

"Just a little more," said Farore, tinkering with the shape of the lips.

But a little more turned into another two full turns of the moon, before Oni lost it and he sent the vessel down.

Farore cried that she wasn't done, but Oni knew better, because creation was never done. It would just go on forever, he knew. That was the thing about life. It never stopped, it just changed and changed forever.


	61. Chapter 61

It was late when Link felt the disturbance, and he sat up in bed, still half asleep.

"Link? Is something wrong?" asked Sheik, groggy and half asleep himself on the bed next to him.

 _'_ _Maybe'_ he wanted to say, because Hero Stuff almost always meant that something went terribly wrong.

"Dark's being annoying," he said instead, even though he knew that Dark was asleep on the floor in front of the heart downstairs.

"Ugh, I'll go tell him to calm down," said Sheik, rubbing at his eyes.

"No, it's ok, I'll go," said Link, getting up and grabbing his cane. "Go back to sleep."

Sheik gave an exasperated sigh, and turned on his side to go back to sleep.

Link went instead to the edge of the lake, where he found a lone white figure standing barefoot on the sand, under the moonlight.

He could see him, in his mind, emanating a sharp white energy.

"You're back," said Link, relief flooding his heart. He felt like he had just recovered a part of himself that had been lost among the stars.

"I suppose I am," said Oni.

"Having second thoughts now?" asked Link, standing next to him. "Oh, I can't feel you in my mind."

"This vessel is different. It still resembles you in a way. And I have no secondary thoughts," said Oni, tilting his head.

"Wow, you and Dark are gonna be really happy. He's gonna enjoy all the opportunities for sarcasm that you provide," said Link.

"Enjoyment…that is…an interesting concept," said Oni.

Link raised his eyebrows at him, then laughed aloud.

Yes, life was going to be very interesting.


	62. Chapter 62

I've been meaning to write down into words exactly what I meant to say by writing Living With Myself.

It has a very special place in my heart because even though a long time passed (8 years since I posted the first six or so chapters on ff.net. 8 years!!), I never truly gave up on it and I always wanted to finish it. I think it started because I wanted a story where Dark could be the counterpart and companion to Link. I wanted them to be together in a very close way, but not in a particularly romantic way. I wanted them to be companions who understand and accompany each other. Their relationship is one of complementing each other, but at the same time remaining their own person, with their own problems to overcome and their own journey to travel.

Link's journey was that of truly accepting who he was and of dealing with a constant sense of loss that follows him always. Loss for the parents he never knew, loss for the peaceful life he never had, for the seven years of growth that he could never get back despite being able to live them again. His character is one that shields himself by erasing himself. He dealt with his loss and his loneliness by ceasing to be "Link" and turning into "The Hero of Time", an icon without a personality or feelings of his own. He refers to this act of self obliteration a few times throughout the story, in some small ways and in a few big ones. _"I wanted the goddesses to replace me with a hero"_ he says this because he sees himself as a useless attachment to the "Hero" title that is what everybody seems to want from him. What _Sheik_ seemed to want from him. And as Sheik realizes the full extent of the damage he caused in him, he is full of guilt and regret. Both of which he sadly has little time to deal with, as the destruction of the timelines approaches.

I love to view Link in this way. As a very human guy, with very human emotions, and desires and even traumas that he has to deal with. This is not me ukeifying him, though. He is not weak because of these feelings and fears. And a very important point of this story is that he is strong BECAUSE of these feelings and fears. I wanted to make a point that he IS strong every single time he feels at his weakest. That he is courageous when he is most afraid.

Because that is what courage is, in the end. When there is no danger, how can anyone be courageous? When you don't have to fight you don't know if you're strong. But when you feel that you cannot go on, and feel terror clawing at your heart, yet you still stand up and fight…That is courage.

In the end, that is why he was the chosen one of the Triforce of courage, because he would go on and fight, despite anything else.

Dark's journey was the opposite, although I cannot say it was something I planned. It happened fairly organically, which is a big surprise for someone who plans and designs their stories in advance as much as I do. While Link was constantly shielding himself in silence and nonexistence, Dark kept reasserting himself and his existence in the terms of Link's own. He constantly seeks ways to be more than he is. He knows he'll never be ca human, but accepts it only after having exhausted any other possibility. And even then, he decides he can be satisfied by a mere pretence of humanity. He thinks he can live a lie because he sees himself as a lie. Because this is what Ganondorf made him feel like. A fake. A badly made copy. He shields himself in lies and constant, useless chatter. A constant "I'm here! Acknowledge me!" over and over again.

And yet, despite their opposing personalities and personal journeys, they are very alike at the core. When Dark is at his worst, having been beaten again by the person he most fears in the world, and being left behind by Oni, who in his attempt to keep him safe only ended up making him feel more useless. (Oni relates to everything as things, and so when he realizes he desires Dark, he doesn't know how to love him as a person, instead ending up loving him as a treasure that must be hidden and protected.) Thus in the end, making Dark feel like less of a person, with his own strength. And yet at that moment, beaten, defenseless and terrified, when Impa asks him to go to where Ganondorf is and save Sheik, there is no doubt in his heart that he'll go on and fight, no matter how scared and weak. This is because at his core, his nature is just as heroic as Link's, and even more compassionate. Because there is nothing for him in victory. There is no glory for shadows, Sheik doesn't love him, and there is no way he can put up a fight against Ganondorf. But he goes anyway. Because that is the right thing to do.

In the end, they are simply two sides of the same coin. As for Oni, I think he's the character that got the most backstory in the fic. And yet, I feel like he was also the character that I didn't manage to accurately portray. And that might have been because he was a mess of misunderstood feelings and an inability to relate to mortals. Or it might have been my own failure as a writer.

After all, every story is the failure of a great idea. If I'd had more time, I think I would have liked to explore a few other things, like what happened between Link and Sheik in the war. Or Zelda's relationship with Impa and Sheik, and how she felt about Impa and her Father. Dark and Oni's relationship too, is one where I hover between feeling that it's fine as it is, and wishing I had developed it more. All of these are things that I wish I had explored more carefully. But then, if I had kept working on the story and trying to add more things to it, I'm absolutely certain that it would have never been finished. Although perhaps maybe later, when I have more time, I might write a sequel to this story where I explore all those things.

Zelda in particular is a character that I don't think I was fair to. I think I failed her as a writer in the sense that I didn't manage to accurately portray her complexity. Her defining trait of course is rationality, along with discipline. She is the rock among the storm of suffering. Unlike Link, she doesn't try to become something different because she knows that she has to be who she is, otherwise everything falls apart. She has to be strong when her mother dies. She has to rely on Impa despite her desire to be angry at her for falling in love with her father. Among all the other characters I think she is the most selfless. She sacrifices everything, she endures everything, condemning herself to a life full of guilt and loneliness because as the princess and then the queen, she knows that her life is one of service and protection. Even when Nayru starts destroying her from the inside, she cannot destroy the core of who Zelda is: A fighter. In a way I think Zelda is the true opposite of Link. While he is a being of emotion, unable to let go of those he loves while at the same time self destroying; Zelda is true rationality, willing to let go of everything yet still remaining herself despite the losses.

This was a bit longer than I expected. Sorry, I guess I had more to say than I thought I did. If you are still here, thank you so much for following this story to the end. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would love to know your comments about it.


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